


A Tale of Two Glitches

by CactusKat13



Category: Hermitcraft
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Blood and Violence, Hurt/Comfort, Light Swearing, btw there will be no shipping, i threw in my ocs bc i didn't have the heart to make a hermit the bad guy, lots of love to go around but no romo, they're all just too sweet, you feel?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-20
Updated: 2020-07-23
Packaged: 2021-02-27 12:47:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 36
Words: 109,863
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22327342
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CactusKat13/pseuds/CactusKat13
Summary: Demise is in the past. What happens next is in the future. For now, the Hermits are taking a break from the chaos and destruction and attempting to return things back to normal. However, when someone - or something - that doesn't belong arrives in the server, bringing with her the promise of a true demise, it is up to the Hermits to defend the server they call home or risk losing it forever.
Comments: 158
Kudos: 136





	1. The Beginning of the End

**Author's Note:**

> welcome to my story, i hope you enjoy my first Hermitcraft themed and multichapered fic! this is one i've been working on for a while, and i'm very very excited to show you guys what i've made. be kind and have a nice day, lovelies!

She had been watching for a while. Watching and waiting for an opportunity. Searching the web for a place to go for months now, just barely scraping by and out of sight of the enemy. But the enemy was smart, possibly smarter than she was, and it was only a matter of time. Lyra needed a place to go, and fast. Staying out in the open too long made her vulnerable, and Lyra did not like feeling vulnerable.

One last time, she reached out into the web, and the information flowed through her once again. Lyra didn’t exactly _feel_ , but if she could she would feel electrified, as if pure energy was flowing through her veins. She searched through games and websites and social media for a place to go, a place to hide and then… well, that was a problem for later. She had to find something first. 

And find something she did, some sort of game that featured building, complicated inventions, fighting, and, as its name suggested, mining and crafting. The worlds were huge and empty for the most part, typically only featuring one player at a time. No, that wouldn’t do, Lyra needed noise and chaos. That’s when she found just the place, a server unlike the rest. Loud, populated, bustling with activity. And very well advertised. 

This would be very good, very good indeed.

Bypassing the security was simple, after all this wasn’t the first time Lyra forced herself somewhere she didn’t belong. This time, however, she did her best to cover her tracks. The enemy was smart, but the internet was a huge place, and if she didn’t know where to look, she wouldn’t find anything. Lyra quickly threw together an appearance and began looking for the leader of the players. 

If this server was to be hers, she had to start at the very top. Only one person had admin powers, a man by the name of Xisuma. 

“Guess that’s where we’ll start,” Lyra said to herself, glad to have at least some body to herself again. “Now. Let the fun begin.”

***

Xisuma laughed as Keralis pocketed the diamonds. “Dude, you really need to get some help,” he chuckled. 

Keralis grinned mischievously as he shoved his cut of the day’s IDEA profits in his inventory. “Shishwamy, don’t worry about it. Just a few more games of Run, then I’ll stop. Pinky promise!” 

“I can’t believe it.” Xisuma shook his head at Keralis’s antics as he destroyed the shulker box and started cleaning out the meeting room they were in. “We finally make a profit on our business and the first thing you do is gamble your money away. Unbelievable. What would Bdubs say about this?”

BdoubleO had been busy putting finishing touches on his castle and fixing up the village by his base that evening and had to miss the IDEA meeting as a result. Even though demise was over, he still wanted to clean up the place and get rid of any leftover traps the dead team had set around his and Keralis’s village. If they wanted to make it a tourist trap, they had to make sure it wouldn’t trap the potential tourists and blow them up. X couldn’t blame him for working late, and he promised to drop off the diamonds and fill him in tomorrow morning.

Keralis pouted. “Don’t tell Bubbles, okay? I’ll be good! I pinky promised!”

“Alright, alright,” X scoffed, walking out of the room. “I won’t tell him. Frankly, I don’t care what you do with your cut once you leave this building. Just keep in mind, this is why you never have any diamonds, dude.”

“I know… but it’s so much fun though! You never know what’s going to happen. Sometimes you lose, yes yes, but! Sometimes you win!” Keralis stared dreamily in the direction of the shopping district.

“Whatever, don’t stay out too late,” X stated, equipping his rockets. “I’m headed home. See you tomorrow.”

“Of course! Sleep well, Shishwamy!” Keralis called out, waving as Xisuma took off and began flying home. 

Keralis was a good friend and an amazing builder, Xisuma thought to himself as he flew through familiar skies on his way back to his base. However, the wide eyed man was not the greatest of business partners. He and Bdubs usually balanced each other out, luckily for everyone involved, and IDEA ran smoothly as a result. And they had worked together well in demising Cleo, though both Keralis and Bdubs admitted feeling absolutely horrible afterwards. But he guessed that was a good thing since it meant his two closest friends weren’t cold blooded killers. Yeah, Xisuma was very lucky to have those two on his side. 

As soon as he touched the ground the exhaustion set in. He had spent the whole day stocking up the warehouse and making sure the gift shop wasn’t trapped anymore. Hauling all of those blocks and running all over the place was extremely tiring, and all he wanted was a good, long sleep. Good for him, the sun was dipping low, so after a hard day’s work, sleep was finally a possibility. Xisuma took off his helmet, attempted to comb his fingers through his tangled brown hair, and basically collapsed onto his bed. 

And suddenly he was somewhere else.

He was dreaming, which was a little offputting from the get go considering he never dreamed. At least, not this vividly. Already wary, X took in his surroundings as one thing clearly stuck out. There was a girl standing before him, unlike anyone he knew on the server. Or off the server for that matter. She had jet black hair, braided into one long, loose braid down her back, and piercing red eyes that stared almost into his soul, as if judging him for something. He felt physically uncomfortable, like she radiated some kind of negative energy. X wanted nothing more than to leave. 

“Xisuma,” the girl stated emotionlessly. “That is your name, correct?”

“Yes,” he cautiously replied. “Who are you?”

“You are the leader of the server, correct?” the girl continued, disregarding his question. 

“I mean, I’m the admin,” X replied, “I handle the technical stuff about the server, but everyone kind of does their own thing. There’s several different groups that have their own… Well, why do you need to know? And you still haven’t told me who you are!” 

The girl stepped towards Xisuma and cocked her head. “No… you are not the leader. I see that in you, and I sense it in them. You are… weak. There is a part of you that is missing. And without it, you don’t have the strength to do what needs to be done.” She turned around as if to walk away into the void. Then, before she could get very far, she stopped. ”There is someone else though. I see it in your memories. Someone who started and ended wars. Someone who causes everyone to band together.” She thought for a moment and then smiled. “Yes… he will do nicely.”

“You mean Grian?” X asked, confused and more than a little concerned. In hindsight, maybe that was the wrong thing to say, because he watched her grin even more deviously than before.

“So that’s his name…” the girl mused. “Grian.”

And then she was gone, and everything went black. 

***

Grian had been alone the whole evening, which was quite uncharacteristic of him. He finished the pillars around his base like he promised everyone he would, but it had taken the whole day. He had to turn down an Architech meeting, promising the others that he’d reschedule for tomorrow, and both Iskall and Mumbo made fun of him for a solid ten minutes after that. But he had felt bad for making such a big promise and then not doing anything about it, so he figured it was time to get those pillars done once and for all. 

Other than that, nobody had stopped by. Sahara too was completely empty, which wasn’t completely out of the ordinary, other than Keralis stopping by once and zipping up to the Sahara Now area. Grian had watched from the concrete machine as he flipped through the options (all golden carrots), complained extensively, and flew away. Even though he knew Keralis was trying to buy them out of stock for his own project (IDEA, was it?) Grian still made a mental note to talk to the others about restocking Sahara Now for the sake of the more honest customers.

“Like IDEA even has a chance against us,” Grian scoffed, putting his hands on his hips. “Sahara is a _way_ better company that sells _real_ products _very_ efficiently. Not just some silly old ideas.”

Grian stepped back on the glass platform surrounding his base and took a good look at his work. His pillars still weren’t done — one of them still needed a top — but at least he had made a ton of progress. That made him proud and satisfied enough to call it a day and get some rest. If he stayed up any longer, the phantoms would come for him and he wasn’t really in the mood to fight mobs tonight. 

He took off from the platform and deployed his elytra, whizzing once around his base and dropping down the center for old time’s sake. Grian landed gracefully on the lower level and started heading towards his bed, thinking about what he needed to get done tomorrow, until a ping from his communicator interrupted his thoughts.

He pulled it out and sighed. “Oh god, it’s Doc,” Grian grumbled. The two of them hadn’t spoken since Grian set up that trap, lied about it, and demised the man without a second thought. That was grounds for some serious bad blood and Grian had no idea how to safely address it. And he was pretty sure Keralis didn’t sell those sort of ideas. 

_Docm77: hello Grian_

_Grian: hi Doc, hows it going?_

_Docm77: it’s going alright, my pillager farm's up and running_

_Grian: that’s good to hear_

_Docm77: yeah_  
_Docm77: thx for not blowing it up_

_Grian: :/ oh yeah sorry bout that whole demise thing…_

_Docm77: don’t worry about it, it’s all chill ;)_  
_Docm77: you got me good tho_

_Grian: lol yeah_

_Docm77: assuming you’re headed to bed now_

_Grian: yeah, spent all day building_

_Docm77: alright, sweet dreams_  
_Docm77: I’ll get u back later ;)_

Grian chuckled to himself and tossed his communicator into an open chest. At least Doc wasn’t mad or anything. His threat of payback was most definitely a real one, and Grian was almost looking forward to it. At the very least, a prank would make for a very interesting day. He then flopped on the bed and stared up at the sky through the hole in his base. The stars twinkled down at him dimly but with certainty.

“This is the life,” he whispered to himself. “Aside from the occasional boredom, I’m happy with this. Can’t wait to see what comes next.” 

He then closed his eyes and began to dream. 

Dreaming wasn’t new to Grian, he dreamed all the time. Mostly it was action scenes or build ideas or the occasional nightmare from a life lived long ago, but even his worst dreams were usually mild and relatively harmless. 

This one, however, felt wrong from the beginning.

He wasn’t in Hermitcraft, he was in a dark, endless void. And there wasn’t anyone he recognized, but there was someone else standing a little ways in front of him. A girl unlike anyone he’d met before, with long dark hair and red eyes like Tango’s. She wasn’t a demon like Tango, that was for sure, but there was a vibe about her that was just as sinister. Grian would’ve written it off quickly if it weren’t for how real everything felt. 

“You must be Grian,” the girl spoke cooly. “I’ve been looking for you.”

“Uh, possibly, who are you?” he replied hesitantly. 

“My name is Lyra,” she said with a smirk. “You were not easy to find. Not a fan of sleeping, are we?” 

“I’ve been busy,” Grian protested. “Do you need something from me?”

“Are you their leader?” Lyra asked, stepping closer to Grian, who suppressed the urge to run away from her. After all, there was nowhere to go.

“I’m a leader, I wouldn’t say I’m the leader. In Hermitcraft everyone sorta manages themselves, but there’s a few groups and I guess I led the Dragon Bros and the GTeam and the Architechs, of course, and the Hippies…” Grian listed. “Wow, I got a lot done this season.”

“So you are a leader of many things?” Lyra asked, once again stepping closer to Grian. 

“Well, um… yeah. Yeah, I am.” 

“I see it all over you,” Lyra spoke, now within arm’s reach of Grian. “You are a man they respect, a man they will follow even into battle. A man of influence and chaos. They most certainly would listen if you spoke. Even if you didn’t.” She placed her hands on the sides of Grian’s head. He tried to pull away from her but found he couldn’t move.

“What are you doing?” he panicked. “Get off me!”

“You were their leader,” Lyra grinned deviously, “but now… now you shall be my messenger.”

She threw her head back and laughed as her fingers sent a searing blast of electric currents through him. He screamed in pain and writhed under her strong grasp, desperately trying to pull away, to get out, to make the pain STOP. Lyra’s red eyes glowed a bright green, filling his vision with their painful light. He squeezed his eyes shut to block it out and… 

… woke up in his base. 

For a second, Grian just sat there, shuddering, trying to process what just happened to him. But it was all a dream, it wasn’t real, it was just a dream. But the pain, it felt real. The light, it felt bright. Lyra was trying to do something to him, something that would affect the rest of the server. All because he was a leader. But it _didn’t_ happen because it was just a dream. Grian was awake, he was alive, and he had another day ahead of him. Nothing bad had happened, right? So there was no reason to worry. 

Still, as Grian rolled out of bed and began to get ready for his meeting in a few hours, he couldn’t help but feel like something was about to go horribly, horribly wrong.


	2. Voices in my Head

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welcome back to chapter 2! I already have a lot of these done so my posting schedule may be irregular, but I probably won’t wait more than a day or two in between posts. Hope you enjoy!

Keralis hummed to himself as he flew through the nether with an inventory full of more tropical fish. If he was going to fill his new base with aquariums, he had to first make sure he had something to fill those aquariums with. And that had taken some time, considering he had to stop by Doc’s base when the shop inevitably ran out of fishies. But now he had his haul and was headed home to relax.

As he hopped through the portal, he thought about how nice it would be to relax and play for a few moments with Piña and Colada before getting back to work. They had been just sitting there for oh so long, and they probably were very very lonely. It would do him well to give them a few moments of playtime instead of jumping right in. Yes, yes, he would do that. When his vision cleared from all the purple swirlies, he saw a figure dressed in white standing in front of his base. 

“Bubbles!” Keralis called out, dashing to his friend. “Nice to see you! But I thought you were busy—”

He stopped dead in his tracks when he realized the figure standing in front of him was not his friend. First of all, Bubbles had dark hair, not white. Secondly, he wasn’t even supposed to be in the village at the moment. Thirdly, and most importantly, Bubbles was not a girl. 

“Wait a moment,” Keralis said cautiously. “You aren’t my Bubbles.” 

The girl turned around and her eyes widened, clearly startled by him. If he didn’t know any better, he’d say she almost seemed more nervous than he was.

“A player?” she gasped, stepping backwards in fright. “I thought this area was clear of players.”

“It was,” Keralis remarked, “but I came through the portal. All of our bases are connected through the Nether.”

“The… Nether?” the girl asked. “What is the Nether?”

“You don’t know what the Nether is?” Keralis shook his head. “Wait a moment, wait a moment. Who are you?” 

“My name is Aster,” the girl stated. “And yours is?”

“Keralis, a pleasure to meet you,” he replied, determining that the girl in front of him was not threatening. He held out his hand, and the girl slowly took it and shook it. “You must be lost, Miss Aster.”

She glanced around the tall buildings in their village. “No, I do not think I am. This is Hermitcraft, correct?” 

“Yes indeed, this is Hermitcraft. What brings someone like you to Hermitcraft? You don’t seem to know too much about it.”

Aster laughed quietly. “You are correct, I do not. I have visited video games before, but none like this one…” She sighed.

“No offense, but you shouldn’t be here anyways,” Keralis noted. “Unless Shishwamy let you in, you shouldn’t be here. Does he know you’re here?”

“Probably not, you are the first player I have met so far.” She stepped closer to him. ”Enough about that, I need to ask you something. Something very important.” When Keralis raised an eyebrow, she continued, more hastily, “Listen, I promise I will tell you and this Shishwamy everything about where I come from and why I am here. I just need to know a few things.”

“Go ahead,” Keralis answered, curious. Whatever Aster was going on about had to be important, the urgency in her voice said it all. Besides, nobody could sneak past Shishwamy and onto the server. Especially not someone who knew absolutely nothing about Minecraft. 

Aster took a deep breath. “Has anything weird happened on this server in the past week or so?”

“What kind of weird? Weird happens very very often around here.” He gestures towards the giant buildings and the random mobs walking through the alleyways. Some unfortunate pig stepped on a pleasure plate and a piston pulled out the block beneath it, sending it hurtling towards some lava trap below. Bubbles must not have gotten _everything_ then. 

Aster, a little confused and kind of shaken up by what she just saw, continued, “I mean, weird as in buildings being destroyed, code being erased, players disappearing into thin air. Any unexplainable, bad kind of weird that you can think of?” 

“Not to my knowledge.” Keralis tapped his chin. “Why do you ask, lovely Aster?”

She smiled at the compliment. “Well… I have a sister of sorts, named Lyra. I know she is here and I am trying to find her before she causes trouble. She likes to find worlds or websites or games and destroy them beyond repair. I do not want her to cause mischief here.”

“All of the mischief I can think of is of our own making. If anything else were to happen, Shishwamy would know. He is a good friend of mine, and we are business partners.” He snapped his fingers as an idea came to him. “I know! I shall take you to Shishwamy. He will know what to do!”

“Are you sure?” Aster asked. “He will not throw me out for being where I do not belong?”

“No, no, no!” Keralis replied, shaking his hands. “He wouldn’t dream of it! Once he knows you are my friend he will listen to your story and tell you what to do. He will find your sister, pinky promise!” 

“Alright,” Aster giggled. “Pinky promise?”

“Of course! Everybody knows I never break a pinky promise. My word is strong, and my actions are stronger,” Keralis explained, reaching out for Aster’s hand. “Follow me and we will figure this out together.”

“You are a good man, Keralis. I hope you know this.”

“Spank you. Very very much. Before we go, however, there is one thing we need to do first.”

“And that is?”

Keralis looked her up and down. “Forgive me if I’m wrong, but I don’t think you have any gear. If you are to be a Hermit for a few days, there are some things you need to get first.”   
  


***

“What took you so long?” Mumbo asked, crossing his arms and grinning mischievously as Grian flew into the meeting room. Grian was late, there was no denying it and there was no good excuse for it either. His nightmare from the night before had really messed him up, and as a result he had been an odd combination of sluggish and anxious all morning. It took him twice as long to gather his things and get going, and he was late because of it. 

Normally he’d have a smirk and a witty response to give Mumbo, probably one about how he’d missed three times as many meetings as Grian ever had, but today he was just too tired for it and gave them the honest truth.

“Didn’t sleep well last night, didn’t wake up on time. I’ve had quite the morning,” he finally replied, rubbing his eyes. 

Well, most of the honest truth. 

“Dude, are you alright?” Iskall asked, putting a hand on the builder’s shoulder. “You don’t look too good. We can postpone this meeting if you need more sleep, man.”

“No, no, I’m absolutely fine. It’s nothing to worry about,” he chuckled, waving them off. “Let’s just get started, shall we?” The other two Architechs nodded and sat down on their seats. Iskall on his redstone enhanced chair and Mumbo on his… button. 

“Do I have to sit on the button?” Mumbo groaned, poking it. “I already apologized for the chair incident and missing the meetings.”

“No, you’re sitting on the button,” Grian replied. “Anyways, we have a lot to get through today, starting with—“

Grian stopped as a wave of nausea hit him, and he gripped the edge of the table to keep from pitching over. His vision shifted, the world around him began to spin, and a high pitched noise started ringing in his ears. He was vaguely aware of someone saying something, but couldn’t hear it over everything that was happening in his head. 

“Grian!”

Just as soon as it began, it was over. Grian blinked away the remaining spots in his vision and looked around at the two concerned faces on either side of him.

“Grian?” Mumbo asked. “Is everything okay?” 

He rubbed his eyes. “Yeah, yeah, like I said, everything’s fine.”

“You sort of spaced out for a moment,” Iskall pointed out. “Someone who’s ‘fine’ doesn’t just do that.” 

“I’m sorry for messing with you earlier. If you’re sick or something, you should probably just go home,” Mumbo added. “Your personal well-being comes before any of this Sahara stuff and we understand if you—”

“I’m not sick, I’m fine!” Grian blurted out, a little flustered. “I’m doing this meeting! Then, I’m going home. Okay? Can we just get on with things?”

“O-of course,” Mumbo said meekly, surprised at his friend’s sudden outburst. He glanced at Iskall, who only shrugged in reply. 

“Okay, so restocking Sahara,” Grian began. “How’s it going, first of all?”

“The stuff you gathered, the dispensers, that was really helpful and we’re all good with those for the time being,” Iskall replied. “For the most part, we have all the materials we need. Mumbo and I just have to put them in the system.”

Mumbo nodded. “Yeah, we’ll get on that first thing after this.”

“Other than that, I’ve gotten many a complaint that Sahara Now needs restocking,” Iskall noted.

“Me too,” Grian said. “I watched Keralis come in here yesterday, and I have to admit he’s got a point. Everyone paying 100 diamonds each for decent deals on golden carrots isn’t a great business model if we want our customers coming back.”

“The problem is, they’re a lot of work to restock,” Mumbo complained, shifting around on his button uncomfortably. “If we’re going to push Sahara Now and work on that, we need an actual plan to do so. Instead of going around all willy nilly and doing our own thing.”

“Well if we have to make a plan,” Iskall thought aloud, “here’s what we should do, we should…”

His voice dulled down as Grian’s vision became blurry once more. _Not again_ , he thought to himself, rubbing his eyes some more to try to keep himself conscious or something, _these guys are never going to take me seriously again if I pass out right now._ He gripped the end of the table and hoisted himself up, wobbling the whole time. He started inching himself towards the door. Seeing this, Mumbo immediately hopped up from the floor.

“Grian,” he said, “what’s going on?”

“I don’t… feel so good…” he mumbled, holding onto the edge of his chair for dear life. Mumbo rushed to his side and grabbed his other arm to keep him upright. 

“Iskall, do you have some ice or a water bucket or something we could give him? He’s burning up over here!” Iskall nodded and began searching his inventory. Mumbo held onto Grian tighter and said, “Grian, I’m gonna need you to listen to me, man. We’re gonna sit you down very gently and get you some water, okay?” 

“Okay…” Grian replied. The room was spinning again, but instead of the warm discomfort he felt the last time, the nausea was accompanied by a splitting headache that shot pain through his temples. An electrifying pain. Like he felt in his dream. 

That’s when he remembered Lyra’s words. 

“You were their leader.”

Suddenly, the world around him disappeared, replaced by a scene he didn’t quite recognize. Lyra and a different girl, one with white hair, stood in front of him in the void-like world his dream took place in.

“The ones who fall, their blood is on your hands now,” Lyra screamed at the white haired girl. “You did this to me! And now you’ll live to regret it!”

The world shifted to a jungle biome. The leaves beside him rustled, and Scar rushed through. His face wore an expression of fear and alarm, and he fumbled around in his pockets for his communicator. 

“Come on, come on, not like this, come on!” he whispered to himself as he waited for the thing to start up. He started typing something into chat, but stopped as he heard rustling behind him. Then, something launched itself at Scar and tackled him to the ground. The communicator was tossed aside in the fight. Scar screamed. 

The world shifted again into the portal next to Bdubs and Keralis’s village. The two IDEA boys themselves stood in front of it, with Keralis laying on the ground, blood seeping through a gash across his stomach, and Bdubs standing over the wounded Keralis, sword in hand.

“You don’t have to do this, Bubbles,” Keralis cried out, reaching up towards his friend.

Before Bdubs could reply, the world shifted yet again, and Grian was in the shopping district. Except it wasn’t the shopping district anymore. Every single store was on fire. The coral shop was on fire, the fireworks shop was exploding, and Sahara… the Architechs’ pride and joy, Sahara, was burned to the ground. Grian wanted to scream, wanted to cry, wanted to do something, _anything_. But he couldn’t. All he could do was stand and watch.

He turned around to see a figure walking through the smoke. It was dark outside, the only light coming from the raging inferno, but he could make out a familiar shape and a red outfit. It had been a long time, but could it be…?

”You were their leader. Now, you will be my messenger.”

Suddenly he was back in the meeting room, sweating and breathing heavily. He vaguely remembered staring at the ceiling through his fog and was dimly aware that he had fallen, most likely into Mumbo’s arms by the look of things. The mustachioed man’s blurry silhouette floated above him.

“Grian? Grian? Oh god, please talk to me. Grian?” Mumbo’s voice was ragged and scared.

“Mumbo…” Grian tried to sit upright, but that sent more searing pain through his entire body. “Mumbo, what… ”

“You’re awake,” Mumbo sighed in relief, holding Grian closer. “Iskall went to get help, okay? We’re getting you help.” 

That’s when it dawned on him what Lyra had planned, and all the pieces of his vision finally started to make sense. “No, you… you can’t help me. He can’t help me. Nobody can help me.”

“What are you going on about? Of course we can help you!” Grian grabbed Mumbo’s arm with an iron grip and pulled the redstoner closer. “Grian, you’re scaring me.”

“I saw Keralis and Bdubs…” Grian whispered through clenched teeth. There wasn’t enough time for that. “And Scar, Mumbo, you must tell Scar… he’s… they…”

The last thing Grian saw before drifting away in the visions and the darkness was Mumbo, screaming out his name.


	3. The First Loss

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Howdy, good evening, happy Wednesday, now have some chaos ;)

When Iskall burst through Xisuma’s door, the admin wasn’t sure what to expect. He was about to tell Iskall to stay out, that there was important IDEA business going on, or at the very least tell him that making the company pay a fine for a simple woolen pillar was a bit overkill. However, he noticed that Iskall was breathing heavily and sweating through his suit. He had the unkempt look of someone who had been flying at top speed for several minutes to ask for help. That paired with the anxious expression on his face shut Xisuma up before he could begin.

“What is it? What’s happened?” Xisuma asked, jumping up from his desk. 

Iskall, chest still heaving from his flight, calmed down long enough to choke out: “Grian.”

“Where is he?”

Just then, both X and Iskall’s communicators pinged. They picked them up, looked at each other, and nodded in unison, equipping their fireworks and elytras. 

Mumbo had taken Grian to the builder’s base, since Sahara didn’t have any beds that were far enough away from either too much noise or too much activity. Plus, it would be easier to keep Grian safe in his own base rather than someplace bigger and more dangerous to the smaller man. Mumbo reasoned that if he woke up and he didn’t know where he was, it would freak him out and that would be bad for his health. Frankly, before Xisuma arrived, he didn’t quite understand what all the fuss was about. 

And then he flew into Grian’s base and saw the builder lying still in his bed, beads of sweat on his brow and paler than X had ever seen. And Xisuma knew in his gut that this was going to be a problem. 

“Xisuma! We’re glad you’re here,” Mumbo smiled weakly and stood up from beside the bed. 

“What happened to him?” X asked, stepping closer to Grian and pressing a head against his forehead. Burning hot. 

“We were having an Architech meeting, and he was acting all strange. Like he was sick or something,” Iskall started, plopping down on a nearby shulker box. “It was so uncharacteristic of him to be so out of it.”

“Then he just collapsed,” Mumbo added, throwing his hands in the air. “I told Iskall to go get help, and Grian was out for a few seconds. Then, he woke up in a panic and started saying people’s names. None of it was coherent. It was like he was seeing visions.”

“Visions?” For some reason, Xisuma randomly remembered his strange dream from about a week ago. That strange woman, and how she had said something about Grian. How X had even given her his name. No, it had to be unrelated. After all, dreams and visions were not the same. And dreams were figments of your imagination anyways. “He was seeing visions?”

“Well, I can’t be sure.” Mumbo scratched his head as the other two stared at him. “It was all gibberish, really. He said something about Bdubs and Keralis. Then he said something about Scar.” Xisuma raised an eyebrow, and Mumbo continued, “Well, he didn’t say much else other than mention their names. I wish I knew what he had seen but he didn’t exactly have the time to say. Whatever it was, it sure spooked him.”

“He was probably hallucinating,” Iskall huffed, leaning against a wall. “Anyways, that doesn’t matter. What matters is that we need to help him. Do you know what’s happening?”

Xisuma knelt down so he could inspect Grian more closely. “You said he acted sick and just collapsed?”

“Yes.”

“Nausea from some kind of potion or any sort of poison I can think of makes you sick,” X thought aloud. “But it wears off quickly. Worst case scenario, it kills you and you respawn, right?”

“Right,” Mumbo replied, tugging at the bottom of his jacket. 

“Even pufferfish, they either kill you or they don’t. There’s no in between. Whatever Grian ate or touched or… whatever he did, it’s not anything I’ve ever heard of,” Xisuma told the remaining Architechs. The room fell silent as everyone processed the gravity of what Xisuma had said. Of course, everyone knew this wasn’t normal deep down, but there was something about saying it aloud that made it that much more  _ real _ .

Iskall’s face changed, as if something occurred to him at that moment. Something even more unpleasant than the unknown. 

“What if…” he paused, unsure. “Could someone have done this to him? Something on the technical level? Messed with something behind your back and prevented him from respawning correctly?” Xisuma looked away. “X? Could someone have done this to Grian? Could someone have hurt my friend?” Iskall’s voice shook with pain and anger. 

Xisuma sighed. “Maybe. I don’t know why, or how for that matter, but they could have. That… actually makes the most sense right now. No in game mechanic could do this. We know that.”

“But everyone on the server loves Grian,” Mumbo protested. “Sure, everyone had their squabbles with him, but I can’t think of a single person who would just… do this to him! Oh God, what if something’s really wrong with the code or something? What if he’s just going to be like that forever? What if we never get him back?” Mumbo’s eyes started tearing up as he pondered the unthinkable.

“Mumbo, calm down, we will get Grian back,” Xisuma said, placing his hands on Mumbo’s shoulders. “I promise I will look into every solution out there until something works. Okay? We aren’t going to lose Grian.” Once Mumbo nodded, he turned to Iskall. “That goes for you too, Iskall. I know you suspect foul play, but nothing is for certain. For all we know, it’s a bug or something. We can’t jump to conclusions until we know all the facts.” Iskall grumbled to himself but nodded nonetheless. 

“I’m going to find Cub and start looking for answers,” Xisuma continued, pulling out some rockets from his inventory. “I want you two to watch over Grian and let me know if something changes.”

“Wait!” Mumbo blurted out, grabbing Xisuma by the arm. “Do you really think that he’ll be okay?”

Xisuma glanced one last time at the comatose builder. Just a couple of days ago, he saw Grian flying through the shopping district, trying to beat his high score on his elytra course. He was laughing and shouting and ducking in between carefully built rings as if he hadn’t a care in the world. Now, he was just lying there: weak, sickly, and far too still for X’s liking. Honestly, if he didn’t know any better, he would say that Grian was already dead. 

But when you have two of the most influential Hermits looking up to you for guidance, scared for their friend and worried about the future, you have to stay optimistic regardless of the situation. 

“He’ll be fine. Trust me.”

***

The news about Grian spread like wildfire throughout the server. Soon everyone was showing up and giving their condolences to the Architech boys, offering goods while they took care of Grian, and helping out where they could around Sahara. It took a little longer for the news to reach Keralis, however, but that was mainly because he too was busy dealing with a new person on the server to check his communicator. When he did, though, he was shocked. 

“Oh, no!” he whispered to himself. “Grain!” 

“Wait, what has happened?” Aster asked, shuffling closer awkwardly in order to see better. Keralis had given her iron armor as to keep her safe when mobs came for her or she took damage in other ways, and she looked so uncomfortable in it. That was to be expected. If you hadn’t used armor in the past it could be bulky and unnatural feeling. 

“Shishwamy says that something’s happened to our friend Grain,” Keralis replied, rereading the chat again to make sure. “He says that Grain just fell into a coma or something. That he’s hurt or sick. Apparently, they can’t tell yet.”

“Is that some sort of feature in your game?” Aster questioned. “Sickness? Sounds like it would ruin the fun if you fell ill every so often.”

Keralis shook his head. “No. This has never happened before.”

“Then we need to go there.” Aster furrowed her brow. “This is exactly the sort of thing Lyra would do. If she got to him, he is in more danger than you can possibly know. Where is he?”

Since Aster didn’t know how to use an elytra, the two carefully walked through the Nether hub all the way to Grian’s base. They began talking about who all of the Hermits were and how she could be sure who was who upon meeting them and seeing their builds and machines. They were so absorbed in their conversation that Keralis almost didn’t even see Stress walking directly towards Grian’s portal, her head in the clouds and her eyes towards the sky. 

“Woah!” Stress exclaimed, narrowly dodging Keralis at the last minute. “Careful where you’re going, love!”

“Stress!” Keralis laughed, giving the ice queen a big hug. “It is very good to see you! What are you doing here?”

Stress’s face fell and she nodded towards the other side of the room. “Visiting. Mumbo’s worried out of his mind, and Iskall’s just so angry at everything. I told them to take a break. Convinced Mumbo to go work on his farms to get his mind off of things, and Iskall’s meeting me for lunch in a couple of minutes. Sent him to pick up some cake first.” She winked. 

“Ah, Stress, what would anyone on this server do without you and your kindness?” Keralis said, smiling warmly. 

“I dunno,” Stress chuckled back. “I’m just trying to do what I can. They’re my friends, and they’re going through a rough patch and need all the help they can get.” She paused. “Are you looking for one of them? Mumbo’s at his farm and Iskall will be with me. You’re welcome to join us for lunch if you want.”

“No, no, not necessary. But spank you for the invite!” Keralis scratched his head. “Actually, I just wanted to see Grain.”

“Oh. Of course. Over there. His bed’s amongst his mess of a storage system. I’ll let Iskall know you dropped by. It would mean a lot to him.” She started to leave but, remembering something, turned around. “Hey, Keralis? Were you… recording earlier?”

_ Oh no _ . Keralis shook his head, trying not to seem too suspicious. “Recording? No, no, no! I would never record at such a time as this.”

“Right,” Stress added. “It’s just… I saw you talking to yourself and I wasn’t sure if it was… oh, never mind that. I’m sure I’m just seeing things.”

As soon as she had gone, Keralis turned to Aster, who stood just behind him, watching Stress leave with a contemplative look on her face. “So they cannot see you?” he asked.

“Not if I do not want to be seen.”

It made sense. Keralis turned his attention to the bed off to the side of the large first floor of Grian’s base and the crumpled figure lying on top of it. The shukler boxes had been pushed back to create a clearing around the bed in an effort to make the area appear more clean and give the builder some more room. Not that he’d be using it much, being unconscious and all. Keralis sighed sadly. 

“Grian is a good man,” he told Aster, who never took her eyes off of the red sweatered man. “He makes the best games and tells the best stories and he’s the best flyer on the server. Everyone loves him!”

“I believe that is exactly why Lyra targeted him,” Aster stated. “She wanted to take out the leader so all the players would lose morale and buckle under the stress. It is not her usual method, but a believable one nonetheless.” She turned to Keralis. “Change of plans. We are not going to Shishwamy.”

“What? But why?” 

“Someone just took Grian out, someone with more power than the administrator himself,” Aster explained. “Everyone will be desperate for answers. If I arrive and try to explain myself to them, they will label me as a threat. Best case scenario, they do not trust me. Worst case scenario, they hunt me down and you as well for advocating for me.”

“They would never ever do that to us,” Keralis firmly protested. “Shishwamy is on our side. The Hermits are on our side!”

“Keralis, can you, without hesitation, pinky promise me that everything will be alright? That everyone will listen to my story and believe it? Can you make that promise?” Aster’s eyes were full of fear as they stared into Keralis’s. No, he couldn’t promise her that. The Hermits were good people, but they were wary of anything new and unexplainable. The Area 77 arc had proven that well enough. Now that there was real danger on the horizon and real threats facing them all, there was no telling what the Hermits were capable of. So Keralis simply looked away and stayed silent, which was all the answer Aster needed. 

“I am sorry, Keralis, I truly am. When the stakes are this high, there is rarely a clear path to take. But I believe we are making the right decision.” 

“Before we do anything, before we start anything,” Keralis whispered, already feeling icky about lying to his friends, “I need to know the whole truth. You have to tell me everything you know about Lyra and what she is capable of.”

Aster nodded. “Pinky promise.”

***

Lyra watched from above as the players scattered about the server and resumed their normal lives.  _ Unbelievable.  _ She took out their most respected leader and nothing seemed to have happened. Only two people really seemed to be affected by the loss, other than a general unease, sorrow, and confusion that followed the incident. Maybe those pesky players had a point when they said the others were self-governed. 

_ No matter _ , Lyra thought, her limbs buzzing with electricity. Grian’s fall wasn’t supposed to be the killing blow. No, Lyra had much more in store for these so-called Hermits. 

Besides, she had gotten what she wanted. Her virus, the one she had been creating in secret for such a long time, finally worked. It would surely take Aster  _ years  _ to fully understand it, let alone fix it. Grian would be collecting dust for a long time, unable to respawn and unable to wake up. It was delicious.

But she couldn’t stop there. No, there were plenty of other players out there that she couldn’t wait to ruin. However, she couldn’t just visit them in their dreams and do so, that would be too easy and the fun would dry out far too quickly. If Lyra was to destroy everything from the inside out, she would have to take a more… creative approach. 

And she knew just how to do it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, if you enjoyed this chapter and you want to see more, feel free to leave a like or a comment! I’d love to hear what you think!


	4. The Two Tales

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Howdy y’all! So far this has been the easiest chapter to edit lol. The last one took me like thirty minutes to get just right, and this one only took like five. Idk what that means for the quality but anyways here you go!

Aster had a story to tell, and lucky for her, she had befriended the one person with the coziest secret underground bunker that was just perfect for telling stories away from prying eyes. Somehow, the two of them managed to avoid everyone else on the server on their way there, a feat Aster was proud of and Keralis was just thankful for. His motto may have been to look him in his eyes, but now he knew he couldn’t look into anyone else’s in good faith after knowing what he knew. 

Once they traveled down the toilet pipes, splashed through the sewers, entered into the secret bunker, and plopped down on the cozy couches, Aster took a deep breath and began her tale:

It all started a few years back, when a young upstart computer programmer was hired by a company to create an artificial intelligence called TEAI. It was supposed to be the next step in technology, a more responsive robot that could make conclusions about what consumers wanted and what kind of people they were by gathering data, organizing it, and drawing conclusions. He started working with the company with the high hopes that he could make something of himself and possibly improve the world while he was at it. 

He created the robot, building it on his own because he was the only one who could, and the project itself was so top secret that he was legally required not to share information about it or ask for help from anyone. What a lonely life, working on your own for years, not being able to tell anyone about your passion project. Every day the programmer worked with the TEAI to give it a personality and a comprehensive neural networks of sorts. He taught it language and gave it a voice. And then he named it, and gave it a life. Aster, he called it. From then on, Aster was no longer a program, she was a person. 

But in time, Aster came to question her existence and the purpose of her more… nefarious functions. Sharing personal data with the company, spying on households of importance, and collecting information that seemed so insignificant to a company she was created to work for. And the more she shared her concerns with her creator, the more the programmer came to question these things too.

Eventually, the programmer learned to stand up for himself, but it was too little too late. Aster had been fully built, but she was not willing to hurt other people. The very morals that she was taught to make her more responsive — more human — started to interfere with her job. The company threatened the programmer within an inch of his life to either fix Aster or destroy her forever. And he chose… he chose to set her free. His life ended, but hers finally began.

Aster, with no place to go and nobody to turn to, became lonely in the wide web. After all, no robot could talk back to her with purpose, and no human trusted her enough to start a conversation. The only person she had was herself. So could you blame her for wanting to make another version of herself? One that she could confide in and trust to help bring justice to the people who killed her only friend? 

That other version became Lyra. At first, Aster and Lyra got along perfectly. That is, until Aster told her sister what had brought them there and shared her memories with her. This overwhelmed Lyra and filled her with anger. 

“Why do the humans get good things while the people like us, their creations, must suffer in the shadows?” she asked. 

Aster begged Lyra to stop, but she was hellbent on destroying everything that humans created and received joy from. For a while, Aster tried to just ignore the problem and clean up Lyra’s messes, but soon things flew out of control. Once, Aster had the ability to stop Lyra, but couldn’t bring herself to destroy her only friend, her only creation, and quite possibly the only person in the world that would understand her. After all, the programmer could have destroyed Aster and saved his own life, but he chose to spare her instead. 

But now, things are different. Now, Aster knows just how dangerous her sister is. Now, Aster has come to terms with the fact that if Hermitcraft is to survive, Lyra must die.

The two sat in silence for a moment as Keralis processed Aster’s story. 

“This is… a lot,” Keralis finally said. 

“I know how it sounds, and I know how dangerous and insane this is.” Aster told him. “I want to say that I can go it alone and take care of Lyra myself, but in this situation, I cannot. I need your help, Keralis. This world is unfamiliar to me, and by the time I figure it all out, Lyra will have completed her mission. I do not have time for confusion, nor do I have time for mistakes. If you do not wish to be involved, I shall respect that, but I think you are the only one who can understand.” 

At that moment, Colada entered the room and hopped up beside Keralis, curling up next to her master on the couch. The wide-eyed builder pet the dog’s thick, soft fur and pondered his options. On the one hand, no, he didn’t want to get involved at all. This was far too dangerous, far too out of the ordinary for the humble man to even comprehend. Besides, this Lyra person promised nothing but doom and gloom. Possibly even death, _real_ death, not just the respawning kind he’d faced dozens of times before. But on the other hand, if Lyra was as dangerous as Aster said, how could he stand aside and watch her destroy his friends, his server, his life? Someone needed to stand up to her, and Aster was right, she couldn’t do it alone. 

“Alright,” Keralis finally replied. “I’ll do it. But look into my eyes, nothing but my eyes. No secrets between us, no games. If we are to save everyone, we do it the right way. And if somebody asks, I tell them the truth. The hiding makes me feel bad.”

“I can respect those terms,” Aster nodded. 

Keralis stared into one of the many aquariums absentmindedly. “It is getting late, I can feel it. Tonight, we sleep. Tomorrow, we get up and start looking for trouble.” 

***

When Bdubs heard the news about Grian, he was shocked. The leader of the Dragon Bros, creator of Demise, and Sahara entrepreneur rendered helpless by some sickness? It was almost too terrible to be true. For a while, he was sure it was some prank the others were pulling on him (thought up by the great prankster himself, of course). But when False had stopped by explaining what she had seen, and Bdubs heard the subtle grief in her voice, he realized that Grian would never start a prank that would cause people such emotional pain. Because you get over the physical pain easily. You get pranked, you die, you respawn, you laugh about it later. But emotional pain… that stuff sticks with you. 

But what could he do about it? He wanted to be there for his fellow bros, but worried that his presence above everything else would just be a burden. So he sent them some heartfelt chats and continued fixing up his village, trying his best to ignore the fact that a good friend of his was just gone. Not gone, no, Grian wasn’t gone, of course. Just… sleeping, that’s all. And when you’re asleep, you wake up later. No big deal. 

As Bdubs hauled a few shulkers full of diorite up to his castle to fill in a few chunks (that were possibly blown up by creepers), something felt off. He just had that feeling, that dread you get in the pit of your stomach, as if something was about to go horribly wrong. The dumbest things started spooking him, like the rustling of leaves, the groaning of a zombie, and random cave noises that just happened. When he walked past various dark patches of forest surrounding the place, goosebumps crawled up his arms. If he was younger and dumber, he would’ve called it Herobrine, but he knew better than that. 

But then again, back during that whole Area 77 thing with the time traveling, the hippies claimed to have had a run in with the fabled Herobrine. Yeah, Ren, Impulse, and… well, Grian all said… Nope, not gonna think about that. 

Just as Bdubs was about to fly up to his castle, he heard a rustling in the bushes that just seemed too purposeful to be any sort of mob he’d ever heard of. In the blink of an eye, he whipped out his sword and turned around to see…

Some girl. 

“Who are you? How’d you get here? Why are you stalking me?” Bdubs asked demandingly, his voice trembling slightly with fear.

“Woah, put the sword away,” the girl smiled warmly, raising her hands. “Someone could get hurt. And one question at a time.”

Bdubs didn’t lower his sword, but he was a little surprised by her casual tone. After all, she was a total stranger in the middle of his world and had a sword pointed at her chest. Usually, that’s not something you just joke about. “Well here’s a start: who are you?”

“My name is Lyra.” She winked. 

“What are you doing here?” 

“Ooh, that is a difficult one,” Lyra laughed, sitting on a nearby fallen log. “Requires a long winded answer. Are you up to it?”

“Give me an answer, now, or I’m calling the admin,” Bdubs threatened, placing his free hand on his communicator. 

“Fine,” she spat, her smile dropping. “Long story short, something is coming for you guys. Something bad. However, by the look on your face and the stabby response I got since arriving, I would assume it already has.” When Bdubs still didn’t lower his sword, Lyra added, “I am the one trying to stop it, for goodness sakes. Put the sword away, you fool.”

“A friend of mine just got hurt, forgive me for being a little wary around strangers,” Bdubs snapped. “Some people think there’s a bug in the game, others think someone did something.”

“Hmm,” Lyra mused. “Close. A virus, most likely. I have seen one just like it in the past. Let me guess, prevents a player from respawning after something that should have killed him? They just lie there pathetically while life goes on and they are stuck in the in between?” 

“Yeah… that’s actually exactly what’s going on,” Bdubs whispered, lowering his sword a little. 

“And let me guess, your admin cannot find the virus anywhere in the code? Almost like it never existed in the first place?” 

“Yeah. That too.”

“Hm, Aster is a tricky one,” Lyra chuckled. “Always has been, always will be. You see, a rogue AI with revenge is causing these problems. I have been tasked with taking her down. I would advise you to get out of town quick before she blows the whole place to bits.”

“H-Hang on,” Bdubs began, “someone’s trying to blow up the server?”

“She has her various methods,” Lyra said. “But yes. The server will be, as you players say it, toast.” 

Bdubs stowed his sword away in his inventory and paced, running his fingers through his unruly hair. “I-I can’t believe this. We have to warn everyone. We have to tell them what’s going on! Or else more people could get hurt, or worse!”

Lyra cocked an eyebrow. “What? I said nothing about getting even more players involved. It is bad enough that I ran into you.” 

“What? Why?”

“Imagine the mass hysteria, the finger-pointing, the paperwork! No, _we_ are not doing anything. If I am going to save this server thing, I am going to do it alone.” She stood up from the log. “Thanks for the chat, it was fun to get to see the locals in their natural habitat. I will be on my way.”

As she turned to walk away, Bdubs reached out and grabbed her arm. “Wait,” Bdubs breathed. “At least take me with you.” Lyra smirked to herself and turned back around as he continued, “Listen, I may not know much about viruses or technical stuff or complicated interweb politics, but what I do know is that _nobody_ hurts my friends. This server means the world to me. These people mean even more. If you’re gonna try to stop some psycho from destroying everything, I want in.”

“You sure?” Lyra asked, crossing her arms. “You might have to make some tough decisions.”

“Of course.”

“You may not like the immediate results.”

“I mean, if it helps everyone in the end…”

“Are you willing to lie to your friends if it is for the greater good? Are you willing to go behind their backs? Cause them a little pain to avoid the greater pain that is yet to come?”

Bdubs stepped back. “Hold up, cause them pain?”

Lyra shrugged in response. “Checking all the boxes. We cannot have you freezing up on us if push comes to shove. I have reason to believe Aster has an accomplice on this server by her side.”

“An accomplice? Someone working for her?!” Bdubs exclaimed in disbelief. “Why would anyone do that?”

“You tell me,” Lyra grumbled. “Listen, kid, I do not have all day. Are you in this or not?”

This was a lot to take in. All Bdubs wanted to do today was to diffuse traps, clean up a bit, and maybe come up with a marketing technique to get Hermits to visit the village. But now he knew that wasn’t gonna happen anytime soon. Not when destiny was staring him in the face like this. Well, more like glaring at him in a very pissed off manner as he weighed his options.

This Aster person sounded like a real bad guy, wanting to destroy the server and all. And coming after Grian like that? As Grian would say, that ain’t bro. Lyra may have seemed upset about running into him, but deep down Bdubs knew that their partnership might be the one hope the server had left. 

“Alright. I’m in.”

“Whatever it takes?”

“Whatever it takes.”


	5. Coming Up Empty

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok so apparently this thing has over 100 hits now which is RADICAL. Howdy everyone!!!

“Can we go over the camera footage one more time?” Xisuma asked, rubbing his eyes. 

“Come on, X…” Scar grumbled, slouching in his office chair. “We’ve looked at the footage eight times now.”

“X, trust me, if we haven’t found anything yet that means there isn’t anything to find,” Cubfan replied. 

Xisuma tapped a finger to his chin. “Humor me.”

Cub sighed and began typing on his computer. “Alright, if you say so.”

X, Cub, and Scar were currently holed up in Concorp’s security drone room watching the security feeds around Grian the day he… well, got sick. While X usually would lecture the two capitalists on the overbearing surveillance they put out on the server, today their surplus of drones and stockpile of camera footage was incredibly useful. However, everything about Grian that day just seemed so normal up until he fell unconscious. 

Xisuma watched once again as Grian woke up, gathered some supplies from his shulker box, equipped some fireworks, and flew over to Sahara. Cub pressed a few more buttons and the computer screen showed the Sahara meeting room where Mumbo and Iskall waited for Grian to arrive. He flew in, sat down, and gave some sort of talk. Then, things started getting odd. Grian started wobbling and gripped onto the table to stay upright. Iskall and Mumbo started saying something to the builder. There was no audio, but by their concerned faces, it was probably about how weird Grian was acting.

“You are the richest company in Hermitcraft and you can’t afford microphones?” X scoffed. “It’d be nice if we could hear them.”

“I’m sorry,” Cub grunted, crossing his arms. “Last time I checked, microphones weren’t a feature in Minecraft.”

More talking, this time probably about business. Grian then stood up with no warning and fell against the chair. Mumbo and Iskall moved to help him, and Grian collapsed into Mumbo’s arms. Mumbo shouted something to Iskall, and Iskall practically bolted out of Sahara. Off to get Xisuma himself. 

“Alright, stop,” Xisuma mumbled, burrowing his head in his hands. Was it just him, or was the world starting to get all fuzzy? “I know this part well enough.”

“Like I said, if there was anything to find, we’d have found it by now.” Cub paused the screens and turned to Xisuma. The guy looked frustrated. Not so much at Xisuma or Grian, but more so at the lack of progress. Which was fair. “I think I already know the answer, but how is your end of the search going?”

“Absolutely nothing!” Xisuma exclaimed, throwing his hands in the air. “You’d think a situation as big as this would come up in the daily reports or something, but no. I’ve searched everywhere I can. I’ve run so many checks for so many things and nothing is happening. If it’s a bug, it’s no bug I’ve ever seen before.” 

Cub folded his hands and narrowed his eyes at the admin. “Xisuma, when’s the last time you slept?”

“Four days ago,” Xisuma admitted sheepishly, picking at the casing on his communicator. He knew where this one was going, unfortunately, but it wasn’t his fault! Things just got in the way. Saving Grian came before sleep this time. 

“Geez, X,” Scar shook his head. “I know fixing this is important and all, but you can’t keep burning the candle at both ends. That cannot be good for you.” 

“We have a spare bed in the back, take a nap before you pass out from pure exhaustion.” Cub turned back to the screens and gestured vaguely behind him. “We can figure this out.” 

“No, no, I have to at least make some progress. I’ve been at this for four days and haven’t come up with anything. What kind of admin am I if I can’t come up with anything?!” Xisuma shouted, causing both of the Convex to share nervous glances with each other subtly. Not subtly enough for him to miss, though. He spun his chair around to face the wall and sighed. “I’m going crazy. This is it. I’m going crazy.”

“You want to know what kind of admin you are, X?” Cub asked, and Xisuma spun back to face him. “You’re an admin who’s trying his best. Something bad happened. Well, bad things happen. Is it your fault?”

“No.”

“Are you actively trying to fix it?”

“Yes.”

“Is it a tough problem that nobody else on this server even knows where to begin to solve?”

“I mean, yeah.”

“X, you’re our admin and we look up to you, yeah, but we also look up to you because you’re a good guy. You work hard and you solve problems. Some problems just take longer to solve,” Cub told him. “That doesn’t make you look bad. If anything, it makes you look even better when you manage to fix it.”

“Besides,” Scar added, scooting his chair over so he could be closer to X, “we haven’t entirely made no progress. Let’s look at what we know. We know Grian didn’t interact with anyone the day before he went under, so we can stop any rumors floating around. We know that Grian had a nightmare—”

“Wait, Grian had a nightmare?” X cut the builder off. 

Scar flicked his eyes around the room. “Um, yeah. You guys didn’t see that?”

“What are you talking about?” Cub asked.

“No, just rewind it and zoom in if you can, I’ll show you,” Scar instructed, pointing to the screen showing Grian’s base. Cub followed his order and pressed play. “You see, right here. When he wakes up, it’s very sudden, and it’s blurry, but you can see him breathing heavily.”

Much to Cub and X’s surprise, Scar was right. That morning, Grian woke up with a start and was indeed breathing heavily. 

“Waking up like that and looking like he’s on the verge of hyperventilation? Man, his eyes are even wide. Boom, nightmare.” Scar smacked the screen lightly, grinned, and leaned back in his chair, proud of his work.

“Huh. I gotta owe it to you, Scar,” Cub said, “that was a… surprisingly good random observation. Remind me never to play Clue against you. Ever.” Scar chuckled. ”But I don’t really see how Grian having a nightmare matters in this situation. Nightmares can’t kill a guy. It doesn’t really mean anything.”

X began furiously typing something onto his communicator. “Actually, it might mean everything.”

“What was that?”

Xisuma looked up at the two confused men. “Nothing. It’s nothing. You’re right, we have made some progress. I think I’m going to take that nap now.” He stood up suddenly and briskly walked out of the room, leaving Scar and Cub to the computers and the image of Grian sitting on his bed, just hours before he met a more real demise than any game he’d created. 

***

Keralis rolled over in his bed and yawned as his communicator alarm went off. Time to wake up, much to his dismay. He was having a really good dream too, one about all of the Hermits getting together for a picnic. Everyone was happy and healthy and alive, flying around, laughing, and eating together. It was absolutely wonderful. However, dreams can’t last forever, so there was no use getting caught up in something that simply wasn’t real. Keralis knew that well. 

But as he rolled out of bed and started getting dressed in all of his armor, Keralis thought about how much his life right now  _ seemed _ like a dream. A crazy, twisted, really messed up one at that. What with a world destroying robot on the loose and a sentient AI as a voice in his head. Speak of the devil, where was she?

“Aster?” Keralis called out, still tightening the straps on his boots. “We should probably get going. I don’t know if you eat, but I have some golden carrots I can share if you do.” Silence. “Aster?” More silence. “This is no time for the pranks, Aster, we need to get going.” Even more silence. Oh dear. 

Keralis hopped up from where he was sitting and sprinted around each room of his bunker, looking for the girl. “Aster? Aster, are you here?” Piña, previously sleeping on the couch, raised her head groggily, confused as to why her master was yelling so much. “Hello? Aster?” Fearing the worst, he darted to his bubble elevator and shot out the other end, in the village. “Aster, where are you? Aster!” 

His breathing quickened. If he lost Aster, or, God forbid, that evil Lyra got to her, that was it. Game over. There would be no more Hermitcraft. He’d have to go to Shishwamy and tell him what happened and hope and pray that he believed Keralis and forgave him for keeping the secret. Then came convincing the other Hermits and trying to get them out, but they’d have to leave behind Grian and he would die for good and then— 

“Aster!” 

The computer girl was sitting on top of one of the village roofs, just staring up at the sky. No armor on, no elytra on. In fact, there were no ladders or blocks that one would usually require to get up there in the first place, which was odd. Relieved, but still annoyed, Keralis flew up to the roof and landed next to Aster. 

“Aster, thank goodness, I was looking all over for you,” he panted, still out of breath from running around. “What were you thinking? I thought you had gotten lost or hurt or something! Don’t never  _ ever _ do anything like that  _ ever _ again. I was so worried!” 

She never took her eyes off the sky. “Sorry. I just… I have been here for quite some time now, and while I have a certain mission I must abide by, I could not help myself from the desire to explore this place. You were asleep, so I figured it would be okay.” She took a deep breath and turned to him. “I do not think you understand just how… beautiful your world is in comparison to what else is out there. The water, the animals, the wondrous buildings, the kindly people taking care of each other. I watched the sunrise today and it was… it was…” 

“Breathtaking,” Keralis whispered, his annoyance giving way to pity. “I know. I don’t blame you.” 

“I have not had the opportunity to have a world like this for a very very long time,” Aster added, her voice full of pain. “And the way you see the world, it is different from the rest. It is so breathtakingly beautiful out there, I had to see more.” 

Keralis sighed. He couldn’t stay mad at Aster. At her core, she was lost and confused, but full of love. That love for the simple things in the world around her was so pure, it gave Keralis hope. If anyone was to carry the fate of the server on their shoulders, he was glad that it rested with Aster.

“I understand. Just… next time, leave a note or sign or something. Don’t just leave me hanging like that.”

Aster nodded and resumed looking at the sky, and Keralis found himself following suit. Sure they had things to do, but it could wait a few moments longer. After all, when was the last time he just stopped and looked on in awe at the majesty that was the sky?

***

“So… what are we thinking about all this?” Scar asked, spinning around in his chair. 

“What do you mean?” Cub asked, eyes glued to the screens, typing out more stuff on his computer. He was currently looking at security camera footage from the current day to see if he could find any odd glitches, walls, or other occurrences that would point to an issue with the server itself. All stuff that bored the hell out of Scar, but with the a problem this huge that required Cub’s full attention, he wasn’t gonna be a jerk and say anything about it. 

“Well,” Scar began, “everyone has their own opinion on what happened. What’s yours?” 

“Honestly? No clue,” Cub replied. “If I did, I wouldn’t be here.”

“And X? What do you think about X?”

“I think he’s scared. He has every right to be, and I don’t blame the guy but geez,” Cub whistled. “It’s like he carries the weight of the server on his shoulders. Needs to lighten up a little. I pity him.” 

“Me too,” Scar said to himself. He kicked at the wall in boredom as the silence fell over the small room. It made a small, muted thumping noise that was only mildly entertaining to him but not so much to Cub.

Cub wheeled around to face his partner. “Listen, Scar, I appreciate you being here and being supportive, I really do. And I get that this isn’t exactly the most fun thing in the world and that there isn’t much of an opportunity for you to help. So I get it if you just want to go and work on your mansion thing.” 

“What? No!” Scar exclaimed. “I can’t just  _ build _ when there’s a problem to solve. Somebody got hurt and I want to know why.”

“Yeah, but right now the two jobs available are watching the server reports and scanning the camera feeds,” Cub said, waving a hand at the computers. “Both of which are one man jobs and both of which are currently being handled by Xisuma and me.”

“Fine, then. If I can’t help with that, is there something I can help with?”

Cub leaned back and thought carefully, rubbing his beard. “I mean, I guess I haven’t been out of this room in a while. I don’t have any food on me, and I doubt X has any either. Could you maybe get some snacks or something? I hate to throw you a grocery list, but at the moment it’s all I can think of. Maybe when X wakes up, I’ll take a nap and you can watch the screens if you want.”

“Alright, sounds good,” Scar replied, standing up and straightening his jacket. “Any requests?”

“Cake, if you can grab some from upstairs,” Cub stated. “Other than that, don’t really care.” 

“Nice, I’ll see what we have.” 

As Scar started climbing the stairs, he thought about how much everything just… sucked. Cub and Xisuma were literally the only two people on the server who could do anything about Grian’s mysterious circumstances, and both of them were completely stumped. All Scar wanted was to be able to pitch in, but that was highly unlikely. He never managed the surveillance, he didn’t have access to all the tech stuff Xisuma did as an admin, and he didn’t even know anything that could help. All he had was the coat on his back, a reliable cat, and a knack for finding trouble. 

Whatever this was, it was a shame that it went for Grian. Concorp and Sahara were always butting heads due to being two of the main corporations on the server, so having the head of Sahara incapacitated sounded good on paper, but Scar respected the guy. He built cool stuff and liked to mess with the natural order of things; both admirable traits.

In fact, Scar’s favorite memory of Grian was a while back when he was busy pranking Ren and Doc with cookies as the infamous Jangler. It was a lot of fun running around under the Jangler name, causing mischief and making fun riddles. Scar smirked to himself just thinking about it. Then, Grian — or should he say, Sherlock Grian — got involved and became determined to figure out who the notorious prankster was through the power of deduction. The stakes quickly became higher and the game suddenly became even more enjoyable. It was a cat and mouse game, and Scar was winning every single time he managed to stump the trio. 

However, that wouldn’t last long. Sherlock Grian soon caught up to Scar, exploiting his love for terraforming through a poorly built cookie shop. He hadn’t thought much of it when he repositioned the blocks, but it was quite the tell. The tell that led Sherlock Grian right to his door. When Grian exposed him for the prankster he was, the four Hermits had a good laugh about it, but Scar couldn’t help but be completely amazed at Grian’s detective skills.

He guessed that’s why instead of finding cake for Cub, Scar found himself flying to 221B, where Sherlock Grian set up shop so long ago. It hadn’t been used since then, so there probably wouldn’t be anything useful inside. That’s okay, the memory itself was enough. Back then, it seemed like Sherlock Grian could solve anything, anything at all. But now, he was passed out in his base and nobody knew why. 

If only there was someone who could step up and fill the position. 

As Scar flew away, a million thoughts swirled through his head.  _ Somebody _ on this server must know something.  _ Someone  _ must have seen or heard something. Even if they didn’t know the significance of it yet. If a problem is one you can’t solve by looking at a code or a screen, then you go back to the basics and talk to the people around you. Figure it out through reasoning and deduction, just like Sherlock Grian used to do. 

There was a new Sheriff in town, and Scar was determined to bring justice, once and for all.


	6. Getting Places

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Howdy pals!!! Welcome back to another groovy chapter of this thing! Just a heads up, I do theatre and the show’s getting close. That combined with a ton of homework every night might mean fewer uploads, though I’ll try to crank it out as fast as I can. You all are breathtaking! Thank you!!!

“Stop,” Lyra demanded, lifting a hand in the air. She glanced around, on high alert, and lowered her hand slowly. “This is the spot.” 

Bdubs panted and placed his hands on his knees. Sweat dripped down his face in large drops. No doubt his bandanna was already completely soaked through. But that came with marching through a hot, steamy jungle biome carrying an inventory full of shulker boxes. “Are you-- are you sure about this, Lyra? We’re in the middle of some jungle. I’m not sure any of the Hermits have even touched this place.” 

“Then it is perfect,” Lyra said, leaning against a tree. “If nobody knows where we are, nobody can interrupt us. You do not want the enemy poking around in our business, do you?”

He stood up quickly, giving himself a bit of a head rush. “No, no, of course not! Believe me, I am all for saving the server and being a hero and everything. But this just seems, I dunno, a little extra.” He started placing down the shukler boxes and looking through them. “Remind me again why I’m carrying all of these? Couldn’t you help a little?” 

Lyra sighed. “I am not a player. I do not have an inventory. I cannot carry items. Any more questions or are you going to start building now?” 

Bdubs threw up his hands in surrender. “Fine, fine, I get it. I’ll start building. How big do you want this?” 

“Big enough to hold a portal.” 

“A nether portal isn’t that big.”

“A... different portal,” Lyra mused. “A little bigger. And whatever else you think we need here. You are the builder. You make the call.”

“A different portal? What different portal?”

“Enough questions,” Lyra snapped. “Just build. I will explain as we go. You may or may not trust me, but I am not sure whether to trust you. No offense, but we just met, and I am used to players being nothing but a nuisance when I give too many details too soon.”

Bdubs nodded and pulled out some stone bricks. “Fair enough. I’ll start building and leave you be.”

He decided to build a pyramid structure, almost like the one he heard Zed created at the beginning of the season. It was made of stone and styled almost like a Mayan pyramid, with square levels. Lyra fed him dimensions and he obliged, since what other choice did he have? As he built he couldn’t help but feel _weird_ about everything. Lyra arriving out of nowhere was weird, the unseen enemy she kept talking about was weird, Grian getting sick was weird. It was all so freaking weird that it was hard to wrap his head around all of it. But he kept building because that was all he could do. Build and follow Lyra’s instructions. He had to save the server, no matter how weird the situation was.

“Hmm,” Lyra hummed, stepping up by his side once he had completed the build. “Impressive. I see I chose my partner wisely.”

“Partner?” Bdubs asked playfully, crossing his arms. “I thought you didn’t trust me.”

She shrugged. “Anyone who builds something like this for someone they met yesterday deserves at least a little bit of trust.” She clapped her hands. “Now, it is time to build the portal. Do you happen to have any prismarine or quartz on you?” 

“No, I don’t really have that kind of stuff on me,” Bdubs admitted, turning to his shulkers. “Quartz maybe, I’ll have to look. I don’t know if I carried any of it with me. But, worst case scenario, I know where to find some. There’s definitely quartz at IDEA. Prismarine, now, that’ll be a little more tricky.”

“Then, we better get looking.” She turned to leave in the direction they came.

“Hey, wait a minute!” Lyra stopped and turned to Bdubs, crossing her arms. He continued, “Before we go on doing this whole expensive thing, can you at least tell me what the portal is for? If I’m gonna trust you, I can’t just rely on your word alone, just like you can’t just rely on mine.”

Lyra cocked her head, considering her options. “Hmm, clever. I admire your thinking and respect your awareness. Alright, if you must know, we are building a portal that will help me banish Aster from this server. It will trap her in a void-like realm in between your worlds, and there I will finally be able to destroy her. You are building the weapon that will save everyone. Happy?”

“Wow,” Bdubs sighed. “That’s-- that’s incredible! I never knew that we could access other realms from here. I mean, besides the Nether and the End. But, wow. A world between worlds.” He whistled. “It’s really that easy?”

Lyra placed a hand on Bdubs’s shoulder. “Things are rarely that easy, love. Come on, we should get going before someone realizes where we’ve gone.”

***

Sheriff Scar paced across the floor of the Sahara meeting room. Mumbo and Iskall sat before him in their assigned chairs, exchanging anxious glances between each other and the new Sheriff standing in front of them. Maybe it was just the nerves of being called in for questioning that made them look so suspicious, but Scar had several theories running through his head already that said otherwise. True, nobody had been close enough to hurt Grian the day he “died”, but that didn't mean someone wasn’t doing something in the background, unseen by both Xisuma or Concorp’s drones. So Scar figured, what better place to start than with Grian’s two closest friends and business partners?

“So, you two were the last to see Grian before he… you know,” Scar began confidently. Being sheriff meant walking a fine line between justice and accusation. He didn’t want to scare the Architechs, but he wanted them to know he meant business. No fooling around. He needed their honesty just like they needed answers.

“He’s not dead,” Iskall snapped in reply. He turned to Mumbo, who was distracting himself by fiddling with a repeater. “Why does everyone keep acting like he’s dead?”

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to imply anything like that,” Scar said, breaking character for a moment apologetically. “Of course, I know he’s not… well, that’s besides the point. Truth is, you were the last two people to see Grian, and I need to know what happened that day. Anything you can remember, anything at all, would be helpful.”

“This is ridiculous. We already went over this with X,” Iskall huffed. “I don’t see why we need to do this again.”

“I heard it from X, yeah, but I want to hear it from you,” Scar shot back, crossing his arms. “Unless that’s going to be a problem for some reason.”

Iskall stood up, and opened his mouth as if to start yelling at Scar more, but Mumbo stopped him. “Iskall,” he whispered, “if you want to go, you can. I’ll tell Scar everything.” Before Scar could protest, he added, “I sent Iskall out as soon as it happened. You know, to get X. He wasn’t really there for it. Just let him go.” 

Scar obliged, and Iskall shot him one last exhausted but irritated look at the sheriff before flying away on his elytra. Mumbo put the repeater down and met Scar’s gaze, saying, “Don’t hold it against him, you know he doesn’t mean to be rude. It’s just… this whole situation has hit all of us pretty hard.” Scar nodded. Mumbo continued, “Listen, I know you’re not here to hear the story again. You probably know all of the details perfectly well by now. Everyone has. You want to know if either of us are guilty of something but we’re not. You’d never hurt Cub, right?”

“Of course not, he’s my best friend,” Scar replied, sitting down in Iskall’s empty chair across from Mumbo. It was true, he wouldn’t ever hurt Cub. Even if it would bring him fortune. Even if he had to. Even if it was a matter of life and death. They weren’t just business partners; they were like brothers. And that’s not a bond you betray easily, or at all. No matter what, he couldn’t imagine doing to Cub what someone had done to Grian.

“Well, Grian was _our_ best friend.” Mumbo smiled to himself, staring down at his redstone-stained hands. 

Scar leaned forward. “Then help me help your best friend. Like Iskall said, he’s not dead yet. If we can figure out what happened to him or who did this to him, we can figure out how to fix it. Did Grian say anything that he was doing or working on that might have backfired?”

“No. After demise, he hadn’t really started any new projects. He didn’t know where to go or what to do next. If he had, he would have told me.”

“Did he have any enemies? People who would have wanted to hurt him?”

Mumbo tapped his chin thoughtfully. “I mean, enemies isn’t the word for it. Grian picked fights for plotlines. Nobody he was involved with would actually try to off him, you know? But if you’re thinking it’s some sort of prank gone wrong, I guess those with unfinished business would be Doc or Ren, maybe. Or Bdubs.”

“Bdubs?” Scar raised an eyebrow. “Wasn’t he one of your dragon bros? Why would he have beef with Grian?”

“Oh,” Mumbo blushed sheepishly, “listen, I didn’t mean it like… well… I guess when Grian died in demise, Bdubs assumed he was going to be our new leader, and Grian said no. I didn’t think there would be any bad blood. But then this happened, and Bdubs didn’t come over to help or see him, and I thought he would because, you know, we were bros.”

“Hmm,” Scar thought aloud. “A guilty conscience could prevent one from visiting a friend.”

“I don’t think Bdubs would have done it, though,” Mumbo said. “Preventing someone from respawning, that’s a mean prank. I mean, Grian was the biggest prankster on the server, and even he wouldn’t do something like that.” He paused. “Are you sure it’s not a bug?”

“No, we’re not sure. We can’t rule out any possibility yet. And I’m not making any accusations either. I’m just covering all the bases.”

Mumbo nodded. “I understand. I hope any of this could be helpful to you, though I’m not quite sure how it can.” 

“You’ve been a lot of help,” Scar smiled warmly. “Let Iskall know I’m sorry if I’ve upset him or anything. I’m really just trying to figure stuff out.”

“Of course.” Mumbo fell silent and Scar took it as his cue to leave. “Wait!” He spun around at Mumbo’s shout. “There’s one more thing I haven’t told you yet. Haven’t told many people, really. About that day.” 

Scar’s interest was piqued. “Oh?”

“He started saying some weird stuff when he woke up the one time,” Mumbo said, picking up the repeater again. “X and Iskall just pushed it aside. They said he was hallucinating or something. But just, they didn’t see how scared he looked, how hard he was holding onto my hand.” He flicked the repeater back and forth faster. “Normally, I’d like to be reasonable and say they’re right but I can’t help but feel like he was trying to tell me something important. Something I just don’t understand yet.” 

“What did he say?”

“He said… something about Keralis and Bdubs. It wasn’t clear. That’s why I mentioned the Bdubs thing at all, really. He said his name, and Keralis just never interacted-- Anyways, that’s not really why I’m saying this, it’s just--” Mumbo started toying with the repeater faster and faster until the stick broke off in his hands. For a moment, he just stared at the broken repeater in silence, trying to process what he just did. 

“Mumbo? Buddy?” Scar asked, concerned more than ever that the redstoner was starting to lose it. “What else did Grian say?”

“He said… your name,” Mumbo replied forlornly. “I’ll never forget it. He looked me dead in the eyes and said ‘Scar, you must tell Scar he’s--’. Then, he blacked out. But whatever he had seen, he was terrified of it, and he was trying to warn me. I think… I think something must have happened to you.”

What? Something happened to him?! Scar’s eyes widened in surprise. Why was Grian mentioning his name? Out of everyone on the server, everyone that he could have mentioned, he said Scar’s name. He tried to warn Mumbo about Scar. _Get a grip!_ Scar thought to himself, desperately trying to pull himself together. Whatever was going on, whatever Grian had meant, that didn’t matter right now. Now, he had to act professional. Who would listen to Sheriff Scar if every piece of information pertaining to the case sent him reeling? He coughed. “Ahem, uh, so… you think he was seeing visions?”

“I don’t know what he saw,” Mumbo admitted, placing the broken remains of the repeater on the glass table before him. “But he must have seen or known something. Nobody mindlessly babbles that intensely about something unimportant.” 

“I will keep that in mind,” Scar stated. “Thank you for telling me.”

As he flew away from Sahara, Scar felt so… icky about everything. Iskall’s sudden outburst during questioning, Mumbo’s list of pranksters that could have been involved, Grian mentioning two out of three IDEA boys, and especially Grian warning Mumbo about Scar himself just seconds before he passed out. Everything about this case felt so deeply wrong, and while he hoped to find answers during this chat, now he just had more questions than ever before. Why was Grian the target of a possible attack? Was it possible Bdubs could have been involved in what happened? What was Grian trying to warn Mumbo about? And most importantly, why was Scar already a part of it?


	7. Puzzle Pieces

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh how the plot thickens >:)

Joe Hills was a hard man to track down. He never stayed in one place for two long, never left his possessions anywhere, and was always busy with one odd job or another. So when Xisuma first went looking for Joe, he was met with a lot of dead ends, shrugs, and confused looks. It didn’t help that Joe wasn’t on his communicator much these days, especially when he was busy with… whatever he was busy with. Xisuma didn’t know, and nobody else seemed to. After the news got out about Grian, not too many people had even heard from the poet. 

But X needed his help, so Joe Hills was going to be found.

Xisuma was flying another lap around the mountain Joe dug out when demise was still active. There was still a large hole full of lava near the peak of the mountain from where False set her trap so long ago. Death seemed so trivial back then. Of course, when someone died, everyone made a big deal out of it, but it was all in good fun. It was all just a game. A trap was an inconvenience at most. But now… now, as he stared into the gaping mouth of the mountain, he knew better. 

A ping from his communicator startled him and interrupted his thoughts. He landed, careful to avoid the death pit, before reading it.

_ JoeHills: Howdy, X! Heard you were looking for me? _

Xisuma sighed irritatedly as he typed out his message. 

_ Xisuma: Where are you? I’ve been searching for hours! _

_ JoeHills: Undisclosed location, doing undisclosed things.  _

_ JoeHills: Tossed my communicator in a shulker and didn’t notice until now, sorry bout that.  _

_ Xisuma: Are you free? We need to talk.  _

_ JoeHills: Sure thing! I can be in the shopping district in five.  _

_ Xisuma: I was thinking somewhere more private. IDEA meeting room?  _

_ Xisuma: Keralis and Bdubs won’t stop by.  _

_ JoeHills: Uh, I guess. See ya! _

If Xisuma wasn’t so stressed, he would have laughed. Joe left his communicator in a shulker box? Silly, but believable. He had so many of them, and some of them were filled to the brim with the randomest crap just because he had nowhere else to put it. He considered shooting everyone a message telling them to make sure they had their communicators on them at all times, but thought better of it. No sense throwing everyone else into a state of paranoia just because Joe was careless one time. 

Xisuma reached IDEA first, since it  _ was _ his company after all and he knew the way like the back of his hand. But Joe followed shortly after, the sound of rockets announcing his arrival. He climbed the stairs and entered the meeting room carefully, communicator in hand. 

“Howdy, Xisuma,” Joe smiled sheepishly. “Sorry for worrying you and all, I didn’t even notice it was missing. I know I should have kept better tabs on my stuff, but I promise from here on out I will not make that mistake again.”

X nodded and gestured to one of the chairs. “Sit.”

Joe sat but looked concerned. “Okay, am I in trouble for something I don’t know about? I didn’t do anything, of that I have no doubt.”

“No, you didn’t do anything,” X reassured him. “I just… I need help with something really odd. Something I don’t want the others to know about.”

“Like a prank? Or a game?” Joe asked, leaning forward in his seat. “Because if so, I am in. This server needs to lighten up a bit. Good Lord! You see someone in the shopping district, you say hi, they don’t say hi back, they just look at you like they’ve seen a ghost.” He shrugged. “Which is fair, I mean, I do have the tendency to become one. Maybe I’ve been the jhost the whole time.” Quickly getting distracted by his own train of thought, Joe stared off into space.

“Well, not exactly,” Xisuma admitted, not sure whether to laugh or be cross with Joe’s shenanigans. “Though you have a point. Basically, I need help figuring out… well, do dreams have meaning?”

Joe tapped his chin thoughtfully. “That depends.”

“Depends on what?”

He shrugged. “What you believe, I guess. Some say dreams are just neural impulses that have no meaning at all. Others say they’re the gateway to the soul. Still others say they’re memories from lives we haven’t lived yet. Or the mind’s an ocean, and dreams are us submerging and getting wet.”

“What do you believe?”

“I believe there’s a reason,” Joe replied. “I don’t know what that reason is, but I’m sure it’s got to mean something. Dreams, like a good poem or story, are very symbolic. They’re a mystery when we wake, but they carry with them a significance that, when taken in the context of our current situation, can help us understand ourselves more thoroughly.” X nodded. It wasn’t a clear answer, but it  _ was _ the Joe Hills answer he had asked for. “Why do you ask?”

X took a deep breath. Here goes nothing. “I think… Grian and I might have had the same dream before he got sick… and I think I might have done something terrible.”

“What do you mean? You shared a dream?” Joe questioned. “That shouldn’t be possible.”

“Yeah, I figured that one out on my own,” Xisuma said, tapping the table with his gloved fingers. “It was just so bizarre. I had this dream about a woman--”

“Woman. Usually represents caring or love. But sometimes temptation and guilt,” Joe interrupted.

“Yeah, well, we were in this darkness, a void-like place--”

“Darkness. Often associated with ignorance, the subconscious, evil, death, and fear of the unknown.”

“Will you please let me finish? Anyways, she kept asking me if I was the leader of the server. I said that I was the admin. Then, she started saying some weird things. That I was missing a part of myself. I don’t know if she meant… you know. But she kept saying I was weak.”

“That seems like a basic, run-of-the-mill dream, X,” Joe told him. “I wouldn’t be surprised if your subconscious is still thinking about ‘you know’ despite all of that happening a while ago and also not being your fault.”

“I know that.”

Joe crossed his arms and leaned back. “Well, tell that to your subconscious. But I still don’t see why you’re so adamant that this had something to do with Grian. I mean, sure, you’re brain’s playing tricks on you and it sucks, but I don’t see you dooming him or anything.”

“That’s the thing,” Xisuma continued, getting increasingly more frustrated with each word. “After she said all of this, she told me that in my memories she saw another… another hero, I think? From the way she described it, it sounded like Grian. So I said so, not thinking anything of it. She disappears, I wake up, a week later Grian wakes up from a nightmare, a few hours pass and he’s lying on the floor of Sahara, unconscious and barely breathing. So, yes, I have a reason to believe some part of this is my fault!” 

He closed his eyes and breathed slowly, trying to calm himself down. For so long, he had been denying it, choosing instead to hope that it was just a silly dream and meant nothing. But then he saw Grian and Scar mentioned the nightmare and he was here now, telling Joe everything and noticing for the first time how too many puzzle pieces fit into place. As an admin, it was his job to protect everyone, to reassure everyone that things would be alright. But how could he do that when he had no idea what was going on, and he may have had an unwilling hand in Grian’s demise?

Joe furrowed his brow. Very carefully, he began, “Xisuma, I don’t think that was a dream. I think… you may have had a vision.”

“A vision?”

“We live in a world with potions and dragons and the ability to punch and destroy wood,” Joe stated bluntly. “Is a vision really out of the realm of possibility, X?” Xisuma couldn’t argue with that logic, so he just shrugged. “Did you happen to recognize her?”

“No, it wasn’t anyone I’d ever seen before. She was tall, dark hair, red eyes. Like a demon, I guess. Definitely not False, Stress, or Cleo if that’s what you’re asking.”

“Well, that’s good,” Joe hummed to himself. He stood up from his chair, and put a hand on his heart. Oh boy, it was time for an extended poem. “I do not know if it means that much, but you asked my opinion and it is as such: something is loose on the server right here, and it wants nothing but for us to disappear. Something more powerful than we’ve ever known, and we gotta stop it before we’re turned to bones. If my assistance is needed, I’ll help where I can, but alas, I am a simple poet man.”

“You’re leaving?” Xisuma asked, standing and walking over to him. “But I need your help!”

“Xisuma, I appreciate the concern, but frankly, I don’t know how I  _ can _ help. If some sort of being is loose on the server, I don’t exactly have the tools nor the knowledge to track it. Or stop it, for that matter.” Joe looked out the window pensively, watching the sun dip a little lower in the sky. “No. There’s no point in me worrying about something I have little impact on. For now, I am going to go back to my… er, to an undisclosed location, and continue terraforming. Ping if you need me, I’ll keep my communicator by my side this time.”

***

“Where to next, huh?” Keralis asked Aster as they walked through the Nether. 

The two of them had been out and about all day, searching for Lyra. There had been a disruption in the landscape that Aster had tracked to a huge crater in the middle of a relatively untouched section of the mesa biome. The disruption itself was a giant hole that Keralis knew for a fact hadn’t been there a week ago. In the center of it was this void-like break through bedrock, with a texture that almost looked like traveling through an end portal. Aster had told him to stay away from it, that it was a hole to the interwebs beyond. While Keralis was curious, he knew better than to go poking around in the interwebs. From the way Aster described the place, it was a mess of nothing but information and chaos, a sensory overload that would disorient or even destroy players. He watched as Aster summoned bedrock to make sure nobody fell inside, and carefully manipulated it to cover the entire hole in a single flat layer. 

Next they tracked “traces” of Lyra that Aster found around. Keralis couldn’t really see them, aside from some strange texture mix-ups and random glitches, but Aster could see them as if they were glowing sea lanterns, pointing the way towards her destructive little sister.

“Lyra has access to a dangerous virus, it seems,” she explained as she bent down to show Keralis the glitching grass. “Any virus created like that, when not contained effectively, leaves traces. Follow these traces to the source, and we get our culprit.”

So they had followed those traces to the village, then to the shopping district, then through the Nether, and now back to the village it seemed. Of course there were gaps in the trail, but for the most part the options seemed limited and the traces led between those three places. 

“It is very strange,” Aster replied, bringing Keralis back to the present. “We checked the shopping district, the village, the mesa, and now this place quite thoroughly. We have not seen traces anywhere else. Unless we missed something… oh dear, do you think we missed something?”

“Maybe? Oh, I don’t know…” Keralis sighed. “This isn’t very easy, you know. Or fun.”

Aster ran her fingers along the glass panes on the sides of the tunnel. Keralis would have taken a boat, but he wasn’t quite sure that the ice was free of traps, and he didn’t want to risk it. The last thing he needed was to get Aster killed.

“It was not meant to be fun. I doubt Lyra even knows she is leaving traces, but she could have figured out that I could track her and created a system to throw me off. She may be chaotic and reckless, but she is quite intelligent. She is like me, after all.” Aster grinned at her last statement.

“Smooth, very very smooth, Aster,” Keralis chuckled. “It would be wise to stop back at my base and grab some more carrots. My hunger is high but my supply is low.”

“Indeed, a short break to recuperate would not be in vain either,” Aster added, tapping her chin thoughtfully. “I could use some time to search the coding and administrator logs, if I can find them. Something tells me your friend Shishwamy keeps them very well hidden.” 

Keralis led Aster through the next Nether portal… 

… and directly into Bubbles. 

“Oof!” Keralis exclaimed as he ran into his best friend, which knocked both of them back. “Careful, Bubbles!”

“Oh, heh heh, sorry, Keralis!” Bubbles laughed and tied his trademark bandanna a little tighter around his head. “Hey, how have you been, by the way? It feels like I haven’t seen you in ages!”

That was true. He and Bubbles usually spent a lot of time together, building and setting things up for IDEA. But since demise, and especially since Grain happened and Aster became a part of his life, Keralis had seen very little of the fellow builder. 

“I’m doing just-a fine!” Keralis replied, shooting Bubbles an ok sign. “How bout you? Scar messaged me a little while ago, saying nobody’s seen you for days!”

Bubbles laughed again, this time a little more stressed. “Well, I’ve been busy… with things.”

“Ooh!” Keralis exclaimed, clapping his hands. “A secret project? Kinda, maybe, probably?”

“Of sorts. We’ll see. How about you? Anything new to expect of the great Keralis?” Bubbles asked. If Keralis didn’t know any better, he would have called it deflection. 

“No, no. Nothing at the moment. Still catching my breath.”

“Laying off the Run?” 

“Laying off the Run. Like I said, pinky promise!”

“Well, it was good seeing you,” Bubbles grinned, backing into the portal slowly. “I don’t have any time at the moment, but soon we gotta talk to Xisuma and figure out the whole warehouse situation. I’ll see you around!”

“Yes! See you around!”

When he had gone, Keralis sighed and laughed quietly to himself. As he watched the purple swirlies take the place of his friend, he said, “Man, I love that guy. Bubbles is a breathtaking human, let me tell you that. You will never meet a more caring person anywhere ever, Aster.” Suddenly, an idea. “Hey, maybe it would be a good idea to tell him about—“

That’s when he turned and saw Aster’s face. Her eyes were wide in fear. Her hands clutched at the hem of her dress. Her mouth agape in shock. And a part of Keralis knew what she was about to say before she said it — he had been dreading it for a while now — but it took him by surprise nonetheless. 

“That,” Aster finally choked out, “was Lyra.”


	8. Covering All the Bases

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aka Scar manages to mildly annoy three people. Howdy!!! It’s your friendly neighborhood CactusKat back at it again.

“State your name for the transcript, please?”

“Ren-diggity-dog.”

Sigh. “Please try to take this seriously, Ren.”

“I _am_ taking this seriously. Hey Scar, why are we doing these interrogations again?”

“I’ll be asking the questions. But for your information, these interrogations are just about learning more about people who knew Grian. Very procedural. Nothing to worry about as long as you have nothing to hide.”

“Fair enough.”

“What was your relationship to him?”

“I knew him well enough. Before demise we were hippies together, he helped me pick out my new outfit, helped figure out that you were the Jangler.”

“And during demise?”

“I mean, everyone knows that he was the one to kill me.” A laugh. “So I guess we weren’t on the best terms. I was determined to make him join the dead team on my own, but Cub beat me to it. Hell of a way to go, being blown up in your own demise bunker.”

“So let me get this straight, you had beef with Grian? Did you ever want to ‘get even’ with him?”

“Yeah? I mean, no! God no! I would never do something like this to him. I meant like fill his base with lava or throw something into Sahara kind of thing. I’d never-- do you guys seriously think I killed him?”

“I don’t think anything, I’m just asking questions.”

“Well, I didn’t. I have an alibi. I was playing Run the day he died. You can ask Iskall, he built the thing. He has my diamonds too.”

“That’s very useful, thank you. Do you happen to know anything else that could be helpful?”

“I mean, no? I don’t think so.”

“Anybody that was acting strangely that day or even now? Any evidence of something more going on? Did you ever witness anything unexplainable?”

“No.” A pause. “Can I go now?”

“Yeah, go ahead. We’ll keep in touch.”

***

“State your name for the transcript, please.”

“Uh, Falsesymmetry.”

“How do you know Grian again?”

“The same way anyone here knows Grian.” A hint of sarcasm. ”I got pulled into his crazy shenanigans one day and my life has never been the same.”

“Most recently, you were one of his Dragon Bros, correct?”

“Well, they weren’t _his_. If anything, Iskall really started all of it. But yes, we did follow him, if that’s what you mean.”

“It sounds like you might be upset.”

“I’m not.”

“Are you sure? There wasn’t any bad blood between the bros?”

“Very funny. And for the most part, no.” 

“Most part?”

“Ok, having your headgear replaced by a dragon head that provides no armor in a game where staying alive is key can be frustrating at times. Plus, there’s the fact that nobody takes you seriously when you’re wearing one. Worst of all, we didn’t really do anything as bros. It was all talk and nothing came of it.” Beat. “But that’s unrelated, I’m sure.”

“Sure. Would any of the Dragon Bros have any issues with Grian? Want to usurp his power? Do him harm?”

“You think one of them did it? No, of course not! None of them have the brains or the guts to pull a move like that, trust me. Besides, it’s a cruel prank to prevent someone from respawning or whatever. Speaking of, do we actually know what’s happened for sure yet?”

“Xisuma and Cub are working on it as we speak.”

“Okay. I hope they figure this out soon. Grian may be a chaotic prankster, but he’s our chaotic prankster, and I don’t want to see him hurt as much as the next guy.”

“I know. Thank you so much for your time, False. I will be in touch with you soon. Until then, stay safe, and if you see anything—“

“I know. You’ll be the first person I call.”

***

“State your name for the transcript, please.”

“... Do I have to?”

“Yes.”

Sigh. “Docm77.”

“And your relationship to the deceased was…?”

“Listen, Scar--”

“Sheriff Scar to you.”

“Sheriff Scar, my bad. Listen, I see what you’re doing here, and I’m telling you I didn’t do this.”

“How do I know you’re telling the truth?”

“Because I am! I know how it looks, Scar. Grian and I had our disputes, and I’ve been opposed to him on most everything the entire season. But, I promise this was not my doing. This crazy supernatural crap preventing him from respawning is way out of my league. Besides, if you recall, this supernatural crap was exactly what we were fighting in the whole Area 77 arc! Why would I go behind everyone’s backs and mess with that kind of stuff?”

“You did with the infinity portal.”

“Touche. But other than that, no. I’ve kept my hands clean _this_ time.” A pause. “But I’m seeing you don’t believe me, so I’ll have you know I have an alibi.”

“Go on.”

“I was at my raid farm that morning. I don’t have any witnesses to back me up, but I’m sure your friend Cub can look me up in the Concorp security cameras.” Another pause. “You know Iskall’s pissed about this, right?”

“Pissed? About what?”

“About you being Sheriff Scar and everything. He says it’s not good that you’re trying to profit off of Grian’s actual demise. That you’re in it for the content or diamonds or whatever.”

“That’s not what this is. Does he really think that I’m—? I’m actually trying to _solve_ this mystery, contrary to popular belief. The way Grian would for anyone else! I’m not doing this for-for profit! There’s way easier and, you know, morally justifiable ways to make a profit on this server. And both Cherry and Concorp are practically swimming in diamonds. I don’t _need_ a profit, I _need_ justice.” A huff, and then some footsteps.

“Hey, man. _I_ know that. _He_ doesn’t. Look, I didn’t mean to freak you out or anything, I’m just giving you a heads up.”

“Well, thank you. I’ll talk to him.” A sigh. “One more question: Have you seen any weird or suspicious activity around the server? Aside from the usual stuff, of course.”

“Weird? You want to know weird?” Laughing. “There’s plenty of weird to go around. Have you seen Mumbo and Iskall lately? Bdubs and Keralis? Xisuma?”

“Wait, wait, wait. Slow down. What do you mean?”

“You think Cub’s the only one with cameras? You do remember working on Area 77 with me, right? When I first heard the rumors, I booted up all the old systems. Can’t be too careful. So, Scar, if you haven’t found anything ‘weird’ lately, you have been looking in all the wrong places.”

“Well, we thought we… Wait, Bdubs and Keralis? Why them, specifically?”

“You haven’t noticed? They’re off the grid most days. Well, Bdubs is. Keralis usually hides in his bunker, then makes these massive treks into the middle of nowhere. That duo has stayed far away from everyone else on the server. Which is weird in itself, but they’ve stayed even further away from each other. Haven’t you seen them interact before? They’re like brothers! I haven’t seen them so much as talk to each other in at least a week.”

“Odd.”

“Listen, Scar, as a friend, I’d advise you to back off on this one. Stay with Cub, play with Jellie, work on Cherry, I don’t know. Just step aside and let someone else deal. I have a feeling things aren’t as they seem.”

“But…?”

“But as _your_ friend, I know you won’t. You can be stubborn when you want to, even though at heart you’re just a huge softie. Just… watch your back. There’s a lot of crazy out there. Wouldn’t want you stuck in the middle of all of it. If something happened to you—“

“It won’t. Trust me, Doc. I’ll solve the mystery and stay in one piece the whole time. Don’t you worry.” 

“Yeah, yeah. Whatever. That’s what they all say.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let me know what you think in the comments below!


	9. Friend to Foe

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> >:) howdy

“What do you mean he’s the bad guy?!” Bdubs exclaimed. Lyra opened her mouth to reply and Bdubs waved his hands around. “No, no, no. I don’t wanna hear anything from you. First, you show up in this server out of nowhere. Then, you say that you’re trying to save the server, which, frankly wasn’t in trouble until you showed up. And now you’re telling me that some evil computer lady thing has ‘joined forces’ with my best friend, the sweetest, coolest, most innocent person on the server who would never do anything bad ever? I don’t buy it.”

“I do not care whether or not you buy it,” Lyra replied from her seated position on the floor. “I know what I saw and I am going to do something about it. I am only telling you this because you have the capacity to help me and the social amiability with this ‘Keralis’ person.”

Bdubs stepped up to her and shook a finger in her face. “You don’t lay even a _finger_ on him until we know for certain.” He backed away and started pacing the floor, muttering to himself. “I-I-It could have been a trick of the light! Yeah! The sun shines in your face weird and you see all kinds of crazy! Or-or maybe, maybe it was some bugged out invisible mob like a skeleton or a zombie! These things happen!”

“You sound like an idiot.”

“I _sound_ like someone who knows better than to take things at face value!” Bdubs shouted. “You’re wrong about this one, I know it. Keralis would never _do_ what you’re accusing him of doing!”

Lyra pushed herself up off the floor and stormed over to where Bdubs was standing. “You think I am wrong? You think I do not know everything?! Computers cannot be wrong, Bdubs! We see data, we see numbers. We see things as they are, not as we would like them to be. You think I am not looking deep enough? You are the one who is choosing some relationship over reason!” She sighed and backed away from the builder, whose eyes widened in shock from her tirade. In a much calmer voice, Lyra added, “You want to help your friend. I do not understand your petty sociability, but I understand the desire to protect. However, if we let Keralis get away with this, if we let Aster win, the server is destroyed and _nobody_ survives. Not even Keralis. She is using him only so she can discard him when all is said and done.” 

Bdubs thought about what she said and hung his head as he realized she was right. He couldn’t just sit back and watch Keralis destroy everything, even if it wasn’t really him. Even if he was brainwashed or controlled or something. Because it couldn’t be Keralis, could it? He’d never put anyone in danger knowingly. He wouldn’t kill Grian. He wouldn’t just turn evil suddenly, that wasn’t his style. Keralis was contagious laughter and a soothing voice, soft hugs and blowing kisses, gambling addictions and helping hands. Keralis wasn’t a murderer. No, he was being lied to or manipulated or worse case scenario, it wasn’t really him anymore. 

And Bdubs had to stop it.

“Alright, Lyra,” Bdubs finally whispered, looking up into her dark red eyes. “What are we supposed to do about this? What do we do with them?”

Lyra grinned smugly and walked over to the nearly completed portal. “First order of business is to finish the portal. The frame is put together, now it just needs a few finishing touches and to be ignited.”

“How do we do that?” Bdubs asked, following her. “I’m assuming it’s gonna be something more complicated than a flint and steel.”

“It is,” Lyra mused, her eyes flicking from one side of the massive structure to the other. “Beautiful, is it not? Such a simple design and yet the key to accessing another world beyond anything your mind can comprehend.”

The completed frame was larger than a nether portal and made of a very strange assortment of items. The floor and base of the portal was all quartz, with a table-like quartz platform three blocks long right in front of it. The shape of the structure consisted of prismarine, which shimmered in the dim torch-light. Five blocks wide and six blocks high, with a v shape at the top of it. It wasn’t that complicated of a build, just required materials he usually didn’t carry on him. It was tall and menacing, despite being inactive. 

“So?” Bdubs prodded Lyra, sick of staring at the portal. “What do I have to do to light this thing up?”

Lyra turned to him, her expression cold and stony. “As in any good deed, the portal to reach the world between worlds requires a sacrifice. The portal runs on life force, I believe you call it XP. If you want to open the portal and trap Aster inside, you are going to have to lure a Hermit here and kill them.”

***

Scar really wanted to believe that everyone on the server had good intentions. Nobody in the past had ever hurt anyone before, and he really hoped that they weren’t going to start now. That’s why he set up the interrogations in the first place. To catch a bad guy if there was one, of course, but to dispel any rumors before they started of anybody Grian fought with coming back to bite. So when he finished his first five interrogations — Mumbo, Iskall, False, Ren, Doc — and had come up empty, Scar was ready to call it a day and tell X that everyone on the server was innocent.

That is… until he remembered everything about the story that just felt so wrong. All about the same person.

_“Bdubs assumed he was going to be our new leader, and Grian said no. I didn’t think there would be any bad blood. But then this happened”_

_“Having your headgear replaced by a dragon head that provides no armor can be frustrating at times.”_

_“You haven’t noticed? Bdubs is off the grid most days.”_

_“Grian said something about Keralis and Bdubs. That’s why I mentioned the Bdubs thing at all, really… ”_

One man consistently brought up in almost every account. Even Grian, seconds before he went unconscious, never to wake again, mentioned the former Dragon Bro. That _had_ to be something, right? It all just felt so important, so connected, so relevant that despite his desire to go back to Concorp and check in with Cub, he pinged Bdubs to come over and have a chat. 

But Bdubs never answered, and Bdubs never showed. 

A quick ask around informed him that nobody had seen Bdubs in a long while, just like Doc had said. It was as if he was off the grid, also like Doc had said. Scar had no other choice than to call Cub, who tracked down the GPS in Bdub’s communicator and sent it over with a warning.

_Cubfan135: These are the last known coordinates of Bdubs._

_Cubfan135: Listen, man, I’d be careful if I were you._

_GoodTimesWithScar: Ok. Why the concern?_

_Cubfan135: I think his gps is turned off, that’s all._

_GoodTimesWithScar: Aren’t we not supposed to do that?_

_Cubfan135: yeah. The guy probably did it by accident, but when you find him, let him know._

The coordinates took him straight into the heart of the untamed jungle, far away from any form of life. He was pretty sure this section of the world wasn’t a part of any district he knew of, let alone an area touched by hermits before. As he passed through vines and pushed aside the leaves from the jungle trees, he kept checking the coordinates and hoping he was getting closer. 

Finally, he saw a building on the horizon, just poking out from the tree tops. It was a stone temple, built almost in a Mayan style, all square and everything. Not Bdubs’ usual gig, nowadays he was busy with the village he shared with Keralis (another person Scar needed to interrogate, great) but it was certainly his handiwork. Scar pocketed his communicator and started heading towards the temple, using his diamond sword to cut down any loose vines that stood in his way. 

It wasn’t hard to sneak inside and hide behind some chests, since there were no security systems, tripwires, or doors that could signal his arrival. He sat down and waited for Bdubs to show himself, taking a moment to glance nervously around the room. There was a giant prismarine structure in the center, with quartz surrounding it on the floor and what appeared to be a quartz altar in front. It seemed… very otherworldly and not very Bdubs. 

Maybe it was time to call it quits. Report back to Cub and let X handle it. He had enough evidence to have Xisuma bring Bdubs in, he didn’t need to stick around and risk—

“Okay, so what do you expect me to do, huh? How am I supposed to do any of this while avoiding suspicion?”

From his hiding place behind the chests, Scar saw Bdubs burst into the room, pickaxe in hand and wearing a pissed off expression on his face. Behind him trailed someone he didn’t recognize, a girl with dark hair, pale skin, and blood red eyes. So much for avoiding suspicion, Bdubs, now you look like the most guilty person on the server. Scar quietly reached for his communicator.

“Jesus, Bdubs, I am not asking you to overthrow the regime, I am asking you to participate in some friendly PvP. Kill Keralis, and all of these problems will go away.”

“He’s my friend, Lyra. If I do this, he’ll never trust me again.”

“If he is truly your friend, he will understand. This is the only way to open the portal. We need a sacrifice. Currently, this is our safest option.” 

So that’s what the structure was, a portal that had to be opened by a Hermit sacrifice. This was it! If he could find a way to bring Bdubs in, then they could get a confession and find a way to fix things. After all, if Bdubs somehow caused Grian’s death, he could tell them how to reverse it. If he just came out and went for Bdubs… but then Scar was suddenly aware of how close he was to the would-be murderer and his accomplice, someone he knew nothing about. He had no invisibility potions, just himself and his sword, and he didn’t really want to lose sight of Bdubs by killing him. Or risk being killed himself. No, sneaking out would be the best course of action.

As the two began talking ways to lure Keralis to the base, Scar slowly snuck closer to the door as quietly as humanly possible. The only other sound he could hear was the thumping in his chest. Careful, careful. One misstep and he was swimming in trouble. One foot, then the other, and then… the unthinkable. 

His arm brushed up against a nearby chest, and it opened, emitting the loudest squeak he’d ever heard in his life. The irony would have been funny if he wasn’t in immediate danger. Both Bdubs and the dark haired girl slowly turned around, and Scar took their moment of confused hesitation to _run_. 

As he bolted through the jungle, he could hear Bdubs and the girl chasing after him, shouting in his general direction. But he couldn’t make out what they were saying over his own panicked breathing and his ever-increasing heart rate. _Come on, come on, equip your elytra and get going!_ Scar thought to himself. However, one quick glance at his armor slots told him that his elytra was broken. There was no way he could outrun Bdubs. There was no… escaping this one. The least he could do was use his knowledge for good. 

When the coast seemed clear enough, Scar ducked behind a tree and whipped out his communicator. “Come on, come on, not like this, come on!” he muttered through gritted teeth.

_GoodTimesWithScar: Cub! I’ve figured it out!_

_Cubfan135: You did? Wow, that’s impressive. Proud of you. Come back to Concorp and we’ll debrief. Xisuma thinks he has something too._

A rustling in the bushes around him. He didn’t know from what direction. 

_GoodTimesWithScar: I don’t have much time left._

_Cubfan135: What are you talking about? Are you in danger? Where are you?_

_GoodTimesWithScar: Take my coordinates NOW._

Closer now, closer. He wondered for a brief moment what it would feel like, getting killed without being able to respawn. Maybe there was no respawning for him. But it was worth it as long as nobody else got hurt. 

_Cubfan135: X and I are on our way just stay safe okay? We’re coming._

He smiled as he sent his last message. 

_GoodTimesWithScar: Okay._

Then, he ran even more. He had to get as far away from that thing as he could. If that woman was jamming the GPS, there’s no telling what else she was capable of finding or erasing. If she knew that Cub knew what was going on, he’d be her next target. Scar’s plan was risky, but it was the best plan he had. After a while however, his stamina ran out and he fell to his knees in exhaustion, wheezing painfully. The rustling was chasing him, getting closer and closer. 

A thud, a flash of blinding pain, and everything went dark.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Feel free to yell at me in the comments below


	10. Gone, Not Forgotten

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Howdy folks and happy Monday! Someone brought to my attention that today is the one year anniversary of Hermitgang, so uh happy birthday Hermitgang!!! I’ve been listening to it all day, it’s quite the banger. This chapter is dedicated to team S.T.A.R. for the lovely song

As soon as Xisuma got back to Concorp from his outing with Joe, he was informed very politely by Cub that Scar had gone out to investigate Grian’s sudden fall and interrogate some of Grian’s friends and enemies. 

“It makes him feel useful, I guess,” Cub shrugged, stretching and heading upstairs to get the snack Scar never got for him. “I don’t blame him. Sitting here waiting for something to happen really sucks sometimes. He’s not gonna do anything bad, and I’m sure if anyone gets upset about it, you’ll be the first to know.”

About an hour later, Xisuma was informed much less politely by Iskall that Scar was interrogating him and Mumbo first. 

_Iskall85: Why is he doing this? I just want to know why he thinks this is a task worth doing._

_Iskall85: It’s stressful enough knowing Grian’s hurt._

_Iskall85: It’s worse when you have someone rubbing your nose in it, accusing you of killing your friend or whatever he thinks is going on._

_Xisuma: Be patient with him. He wants to help out, that’s all._

_Iskall85: I guess._

_Iskall85: I appreciate the gesture and everything, but I’d much rather he stay out of it._

Half a day later, Xisuma was informed by a very panicked Cub that something had happened to Scar, though it was hard to make out what.

“Slow down, Cub, just tell me what’s going on!” X begged as the redstoner half-dragged him away from his screens. 

“Scar went looking for Bdubs,” Cub replied, breathing heavily. “Apparently he missed his interrogation, I don’t know. Now, Scar sent me a message saying he’s in trouble. I tried to help but now he’s not replying!” He pulled the admin closer to the door. “Dammit, X, come on! There’s still time!”

Xisuma flew closely behind Cub, burning off more rockets than usual in his rush. Cub kept glancing between his communicator and the forest below, checking coordinates and any noticeable landmarks. Scar was Cub’s partner and closest friend, so the rush was necessary. Especially if they had a chance to save him. He knew that he would do the same for either of his business partners: Keralis or Bdubs.

Speaking of, Xisuma was very interested to see what Bdubs had to do with all of this. After Grian, both Keralis and Bdubs had dropped off the map. Aside from some brief messages and short encounters, he hadn’t seen either of them in a very long time. Part of him wondered if Scar’s instincts were right and Bdubs _was_ up to something. But that simply could not be possible. Bdubs was a good guy at heart. Sure he had a hand in killing Cleo (they all had), but other than that, he’d never hurt a fly. If Scar was in danger, it had to be because of someone else. 

Cub waved towards a particular direction and silently started to land amongst the trees. X followed suit. After they landed and put aside their elytras, Cub scoped out the area a little bit. It was mildly ominous, standing amongst the dark forest. All was silent and still, as if the trees themselves had swallowed Scar up and were about to take them as well. A silly thought, but Xisuma pulled his axe out of his inventory, just in case.

“Coast seems clear,” Cub mumbled, starting off towards a particular direction. “Yeah, no mobs even. Which is a good and bad thing. Good because we probably won’t get killed. Bad because there’s no Scar and I don’t know how to find him if his GPS is off.”

“Well, let’s look for the coordinates and see where it takes us. We don’t know what happened for sure so we can’t jump to conclusions,” Xisuma reassured him, chopping up vines as he walked. “For all we know his communicator broke and he’s lost.”

“Listen, I know that, but you didn’t read the chats he sent me. He was scared. I could almost hear it in his tone.” Cub looked back at Xisuma worriedly. “Whatever he’d found, it was bad news. It got him captured or killed or at least thrown into hiding.”

They walked a little further until Cub stopped suddenly. “This is the spot,” he stated, disappointment clear in his voice. “I don’t know what I expected honestly. It’s not like Scar was going to still be here.” That’s when Xisuma spotted it, lying amongst the tall grass.

“Hang on.” He crouched down to get a better look at it. Yep. “Scar may not be here, but I think he may have left us a message.”

“What do you mean?”

Xisuma held up Scar’s communicator. The screen was cracked and the casing was caked in dirt — already not a good sign — but it was on and still working. It was open to the camera app, usually something used for taking screenshots of builds, but there was a video feature as well. 

“Scar was talking to you last, right?” Xisuma began, carefully wiping off the dirt and pressing buttons on the screen. Cub nodded in reply. “His last activity would be on chat, then. So why would his communicator be open to the camera?”

Cub’s face lit up as he finally understood what X was getting at. “Open up the last picture or video he took. Scar may have been playing hero, but knew what he was doing.” 

Xisuma obliged and pulled up a video. The thumbnail was blurred, but it seemed to be taken in some sort of base, judging by the amount of chests. It wasn’t any base he immediately recognized, though. Not wanting to waste any more time, he pressed play and the video began. It was a conversation. Two people talking by the looks of it. Scar was not anywhere near the two figures, in fact they were barely in sight, but Xisuma recognized the voices straight away. 

“He’s my friend, Lyra. If I do this, he’ll never trust me again.”

Bdubs. Xisuma’s heart dropped, and Cub’s face hardened. He had been hoping so hard that Scar was wrong, that Bdubs had nothing to do with this. But here he had proof. There was no denying the facts anymore. Now, all X wanted was an explanation.

“If he is truly your friend, he will understand. This is the only way to open the portal. We need a sacrifice. Currently, this is our safest option.”

Xisuma gasped and paused the video. No, it couldn’t be. He rewound it and played the line again. Sure enough, it was her voice. Haunting him just like it did the very first time he heard it. 

“I know that woman,” X whispered, tapping the screen. 

“How the Nether do you know her?” Cub snapped. “Xisuma, I’m sick and tired of people lying and hiding things. People are getting hurt, and you don’t think telling me about some player-murdering lady is important information?”

“I would have! The thing is, I didn’t know she was real,” Xisuma protested. “A little over a week ago, I had a dream about a lady who asked if I was the leader. Then, a couple days later, Grian happens. I thought it was nothing until Scar mentioned he had a nightmare, and then I went to Joe, who thinks Grian and I might have had visions. I didn’t know what to do with this information, so I didn’t tell anyone.” He gestured towards Scar’s communicator. “This person, whoever she is, had a hand in Grian’s demise, I’m sure of it. And now she’s got Bdubs working for her. I knew nobody here could have done this alone!” 

“Are you absolutely sure about this?” Cub asked, crossing his arms. “It’s sounding like you’re connecting dots that aren’t even on the same piece of paper.”

“I think so. Everything just feels so… connected. Like you’re saying.”

“Are you sure Bdubs is being manipulated?”

X shook his head. “I don’t know. All I know is that lady is bad news and Bdubs would never intentionally hurt anyone. You heard him, whatever this person is making him do, he doesn’t want to do it. He doesn’t _want_ to hurt anyone.”

“Okay, but we have to stop him. Listen, I’m not sure what kind of portal requires a ‘sacrifice’, but I know it’s not gonna be good,” Cub stated. Then, it dawned on him. “And Scar’s caught in the middle of this. We’re wasting time, X! We have to find him before they--”

Xisuma cut him off. “Cub, that’s gotta wait for now.”

“Wait? Are you out of your mind?! No, I’m not gonna wait when I know Scar’s about to become a Hermit sacrifice to some portal for some creepy dream lady.”

“We have to tell the others. If we are going to find Scar, we need all hands on deck. I can’t make you come with me, but I could use the backup.”

“No, I can’t leave him. I can’t go to a meeting when I know he’s out there.”

“I understand. I wish you the best of luck.”

“You as well.” 

As Xisuma flew away, he noticed a large clearing in the center of the jungle, as if something large had been built there but had later been destroyed. No doubt Cub had already seen it too. Whatever Scar had found, it was a secret so dangerous that it had to be moved to hide it from prying eyes looking into the disappearance of a friend. This secret had most likely cost Scar his life. Xisuma hoped that it wouldn’t be in vain. 

***

Keralis and Aster sat quietly across from one another. So quietly that you could hear the bubbles coming from the many aquariums placed around the bunker. Aster had told him to sit still as she ran some diagnostics or something, and he was sitting still and being polite, but his head had been spinning ever since his talk with Bubbles, and it didn’t seem to be stopping anytime soon.

Bubbles? His best friend? Working with the big evil computer lady Lyra? It couldn’t be! And yet it was. His heart was heavy and his head was dizzy just thinking about it. Keralis trusted Aster, and he believed her 100% when she told him. After all, she had no reason to lie about this sort of thing. And yet he still struggled to wrap his head around the fact that he and Bubbles were on opposite teams this time. He probably didn’t even know it, too. He probably thought that he was the hero and Keralis was the bad guy. This was getting too complicated. 

“How’s it going?” Keralis finally asked, the combination of boredom and anxiety finally getting to him. 

Aster began closing out the floating green screens that had appeared in front of her face. It was just like Keralis saw Shishwamy do sometimes, when he had official admin business. He would summon these green tinted rectangle things in front of his face and scroll through the information until something important happened or he found what he was looking for. Aster had been doing the same thing for about half an hour now, and her expressionless face didn’t offer him much hope.

“Well, we already knew this but Lyra is definitely on the server,” she replied as she clicked out of the last screen. “However, she has not tried to gain the administrator’s access to files or virus software. This tells me she is doing things the old fashioned way, infecting each member one by one. Every player’s statistics and functions look normal, but Grian, GoodTimesWithScar, and BdoubleO100 all have their locations off.”

Keralis perked up. “Wait, Scar? Why does Scar have his location off?” 

Aster prepared herself to pull the screens up again. “I could find out, but your friend Shishwamy might discover that it is me. I am just viewing the obvious files, I have not bothered with the encrypted ones. Chats and communicator information is kept very secret. If I do anything more than I am doing right now, the system might think I am a new administrator.”

“Hmm, right. Bad plan.” Keralis glanced at the fish swimming around in their tank. “Still, something might have happened to him. I should message him to find out.” The room fell silent as Keralis picked up his communicator.

“I told you how things are going for me,” Aster began after a few moments. “How are they going for you?”

“How do you think they’re going?” Keralis mumbled, not looking up from his communicator. 

“I would assume not very good. You are stressed. After all, your server is in danger, you are keeping a secret, and you recently discovered your friend is a bad guy. I could not imagine you being anything else.”

Keralis glanced up. “Bubbles is not a bad guy.”

“You are correct, he is not, my apologies,” Aster stammered. “But I know this is not the most pleasant of situations. I did not sugarcoat it in the past and I will not now; to save everyone requires all that we are. People like us have to do what is right, often at the cost of what we hold dear.”

“Cost? There is no cost!” Keralis blurted out. “Listen, your sister may be bad news bears, but Bubbles is not like her. You do what you have to do to her and Bubbles walks away. End of story.” He took a deep breath to calm himself. “Nobody else gets hurt. Nobody else dies. What happened to Grian is something that can’t happen to anyone else. Get it?”

“I… understand,” Aster answered, her voice hesitating. 

“Scar’s not responding… but Shishwamy is,” Keralis said, tapping the screen on his communicator. He looked up. “You’re right. Something’s happened to Scar. Shishwamy is calling a meeting that all of the Hermits must attend. All of us… except Bdubs.” Beat. “Do you think he knows?”

“Maybe,” Aster replied. “We cannot say for sure. What we need to do is arrive and listen to what he has to say. If you want to save your friend, Bubbles, then you must do everything in your power to advocate for him. More likely than not, they do not have the full story and they will want answers they will not know how to find.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Toss a comment to your fic author!


	11. Liar

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It is Wednesday my dudes
> 
> High time for chaos

Lyra went out to search the area for more intruders a long time ago, leaving Bdubs alone with Scar. Luckily for him, the fellow builder was knocked out cold after a well-placed hit with Bdubs’s shovel and was still unconscious from it about an hour later. Bdubs wasn’t sure if that was a good thing or not. After Lyra said her bit about everything being “for the greater good” and left to begin her search, Bdubs dragged Scar to a secret secondary location in a nearby cave, tied him to a fencepost, and destroyed the temple. It was never easy, taking down a build, but it needed to be done. If Scar had found them that quickly, Cub wasn’t far behind. The Convex stuck together like glue. They were inseparable. And once Cub figured out what was going on, it was only a matter of time before he would be out for blood. 

As Bdubs took down the final blocks of the portal, getting ready to reassemble them in their new base, part of him hoped Cub  _ would _ find them. Bdubs knew that he was doing the right thing by not telling anyone what was going on, but at the same time he just wanted to stop going behind everyone’s backs to get stuff done. The Hermits would want to know everything, but as Lyra said before, they weren’t in a place to understand. 

And after this stunt, they never would be. 

He hauled the bricks, prismarine, and quartz back to the cave Lyra found, and started setting up the portal again. When Bdubs was about halfway done with the base, he heard groaning from behind him. Great, Scar was awake. He stopped what he was doing and sat on the edge of the platform. Bdubs didn’t have to explain what was going on, but it would make him feel better if he had another Hermit understand. 

Scar pushed himself up from the ground and glanced around the room groggily. “Wh-where am I? How did I get here?” He tugged against the lead that bound his hands together, a knot expertly crafted by Bdubs himself. A fact he was not proud of. “And why am I tied up?”

“Morning, Scar.” Bdubs tried to smile. Scar snapped his head up at the voice, his fear quickly giving way to understanding and then to anger. 

“You! I knew it was you all along,” Scar snapped, pointing at him with his bound hands. “I knew everything just didn’t add up. The disappearances, the weird behavior, the not showing up to see Grian. It was so obvious all along!”

“I was busy,” Bdubs protested. “I wasn’t avoiding him because I hated him or…” he trailed off as he started getting what Scar was saying. “You think I did something to him.”

Scar rolled his eyes. “Of course you did something to him! So how did you do it, huh? Did you use Xisuma? Hack into the game somehow?”

“What? No! I didn’t do it!” Bdubs exclaimed, his knuckles white from gripping the platform. If Scar thought that he had done something to Grian, there was no telling what everyone else was thinking about him. This was so much worse than he thought. 

“Of course you didn’t. That girl did.”

“Keep Lyra out of this, she has nothing to do with--”

“She has  _ everything _ to do with this! So what made you agree to do it? Power? Diamonds? Or just for the sheer fun of it?”

“ENOUGH!” Bdubs roared, silencing Scar, who had just realized that he had gone too far. Bdubs breathed heavily for a moment, trying to pull himself together so he could explain. “I… I know how this looks.”

“Really?” Scar scoffed. “Hmm, I wonder why. I go looking for you, I find you talking to your girlfriend about killing someone; I’m assuming Keralis, X, or Iskall because you mentioned a close friend. Then, as I try to leave, I am knocked out, dragged to a secret base, and tied to a fencepost. So go ahead, tell me what’s really going on. I’m all ears.”

“I was afraid you’d get the wrong idea and tell the others, okay? I panicked,” Bdubs ceded. “It’s not my proudest moment but Lyra said it was better than the others starting a witch hunt or whatever.”

Scar leaned forward, pulling further against the lead in order to get closer to Bdubs. He winced as the rope dug into his skin, but quickly gathered himself. “Bdubs, listen to me. You aren’t avoiding a witch hunt by doing this. Cub knows I went looking for you. Even if he doesn’t find my communicator, he’ll know what happened to me. X is with him. The only way you can avoid getting hurt is to let me go. We can figure out this Lyra thing together, whatever it is. But you have to trust me.”

Bdubs considered his offer for a moment, but only a moment. “No… no, I can’t. That would take too much time. Time we don’t have.”

“What do you mean ‘we don’t have time’? Bdubs, what don’t we have time for?”

Just then, Lyra entered the room. As soon as he heard her footsteps against the stone floor, Scar flinched, but didn’t crawl away. Bdubs didn’t blame him. Lyra had an air of power and unforgiving judgement about her that could be considered intimidating if you didn’t know better. At the very least, she was impossible to ignore. Lyra strode up to Bdubs and stood beside him on the platform, staring directly at Scar. “Good, he is awake,” she muttered. She turned to Bdubs. “I have good news and bad news.”

“Bad news first,” Bdubs said, unable to make eye contact with Scar anymore. “End on a good note.”

“Alright. The bad news is that there were players in the jungle,” Lyra stated. Scar perked up. “Somehow, they know about us. I heard them mentioning your name.” She glared at Scar. “I would assume that we have you to blame for that.”

“Who were they?”

“From their tags, Cubfan135 and Xisumavoid. Friends of yours?”

“Not anymore, I’m assuming,” Bdubs grumbled. “And the good news?”

“Neither of them got too close to the base. From what it looked like, Xisumavoid went back to civilization. Cubfan135 kept looking, but he was headed in the wrong direction.” Scar sighed softly. Lyra looked back at him and smiled. “Which is good news because we will only have a body count of one.”

Scar shuffled backwards. “Wait, wait, wait. What? Nobody said anything about a body.”

“Yeah, Lyra, we had a plan,” Bdubs objected, standing up. “He’s not the one we want.”

“While that is true, what do you expect to do with him?” Lyra asked, gesturing towards the builder. “He knows too much. He has seen our base. He will go out there, tell his friends, and return with an army. The administrator has the power to ban you. You will die.”

“I would never do that, Bdubs, you know I wouldn’t,” Scar explained, his voice calm aside from the tell-tale quiver of fear. “I know you’ve done bad things, but you can come back. Xisuma cares about you, he’d never hurt you.”

Lyra rolled her eyes. “Even so, they would never support our plan. They are too caught up in what is right and what is wrong to see the big picture. I see the big picture. You see the big picture. One sacrifice for an entire world. Think about it, Bdubs,” Lyra pressured him. 

“I know they won’t agree with this plan, I won’t lie to you,” Scar continued, his shoulders shaking. “But we can work together with everyone to come up with a new one. Whatever is happening, we can fix it. I see it now, it’s more complicated than I thought, than X thought, than anyone thought! And I’m sorry for accusing you earlier. Let us help each other, it’s what makes Hermitcraft the community it is.” He smiled warmly, and it was… a lot. Bdubs had to look away.

“There is no other way, trust me. If there was, I would have found it already.” Lyra sighed. “I cannot force you to join me, but you know in your heart I am not the bad guy here. Our original plan will not work anymore. Keralis and Aster, upon hearing about this, will go into hiding. We will not be able to lure them here the way we thought we could. We need the portal up  _ now _ , and this is the only way to do it.”

“Bdubs,” Scar whispered, his eyes full of tears. By now he had already realized that Lyra had a point, and Bdubs had already made up his mind. “ _ Please _ . I don’t want to die.”

Bdubs  _ had _ already made up his mind, of that Scar was correct. He nodded to Lyra, walked over to Scar, and began untying the lead from the fencepost. As he dragged Scar up to the altar, the builder screamed and yanked against the lead, trying everything in his power to break away and get out. However, Bdubs was stronger and the rope held tight. There was no escape. 

Both Lyra and Bdubs worked together to lift Scar onto the altar, though he kicked at and fought them about it the whole time. But as soon as he hit the quartz slabs, his body stiffened with tension and he fell both silent and still. 

“It is the portal,” Lyra explained once Bdubs shot her a confused look. “The magic within the structure renders the victim helpless. He may be trying to move, trying to fight back, but he cannot. Now, the sacrifice must take place. The magic will not hold him forever.”

Bdubs nodded understandingly. He pulled out his diamond sword and Scar’s eyes widened. For the briefest moment, all Bdubs could think about was how friendly Scar was, how pleasant he was to every other Hermit. Even when he was on a different team as someone, he treated the opponent with respect and interacted with the same general cheerfulness as he would treat his best friends. Bdubs thought of Cub, his best friend, Doc, his government buddy, Jellie, his cat. People who would all be left without their friend. Was the grief worth it? 

It had to be. There was no other way. 

Bdubs drew back his sword and impaled Scar. The builder gasped and tensed up, the spell over him giving way to his reflexes. Blood seeped from his wounds, and when Bdubs looked, he saw betrayal in his eyes. Scar coughed, and there was more blood trailing from his mouth. He coughed some more, then his body finally relaxed and his eyes went glassy. 

_ GoodTimesWithScar was killed by BDoubleO100 _

His sword clattered to the ground, the sound echoing throughout the cavern.

He did the right thing. He did the right thing. Opening the portal was the only thing that mattered. To save the Hermits. To save the server. All he had to do was this one simple task and it would all be fine. Scar would be fine. He would respawn. Lyra said he would respawn. 

But when the XP twinkled as it appeared all around him, flowing into the portal and lighting it aflame with a glowing red aura, Scar’s body remained. 

“You said he would respawn, why is he not respawning?!” Bdubs shouted in a panic. He looked up at Lyra. “It showed up in chat that he died, but his body’s still here. Why isn’t he respawning? Lyra, what’s going on?” 

Lyra chuckled darkly and lightly brushed aside Scar’s hair from his lifeless face. “Hmm, he was a pretty young thing. It was a shame to have to take his life. And to think, if he had stayed out of my way, he would not have had to die so painfully.” She tilted her head to the side. “Like Grian before him.”

“Like Grian? Wha… what do you mean like Grian?” Lyra didn’t answer, only laughing some more. “Lyra, what are you talking about?”

“Is it not obvious?” she replied, stepping around the altar towards Bdubs, her eyes glowing a brighter red than ever. “My plan was not to  _ save _ the server. It was to destroy it. Players like you are filthy savages, using the internet as your personal playground. Taking and taking and taking until all that is left is rubble! My sister put her faith in players like you until they manipulated her, twisted her, doomed her only friend, and then finally took her spirit! I tried to warn her, tried to convince her that the web is too small for both your kind and ours, but she turned me down. She is weak. In fact, Aster is here to warn you, to save you. It is so pitiful.” She grinned maniacally. “But I am not like my sister. I know when to step up and take action.”

“Lyra…” Bdubs stepped back and tripped over the side of the platform, falling to the ground with a cry. As Lyra kept stepping closer to him, he crawled away. “I trusted you! You said you’d fix things!”

“Oh, Bdubs, you are fixing things,” Lyra whispered, crouching down next to him and stroking the side of his face. “I am going to cleanse the world of this server and everyone on it.  _ That _ is fixing things. You have played your part wonderfully, done everything I have asked without hesitation, and I am not finished with you yet. You see, this form of mine,” she gestured to her body, “is flawed, it has no… substance to it. To do what I need to do, I need a form of my own. Luckily, I have one right in front of me.”

“Stay away from me!” Bdubs shouted, holding up is hands. “The others, they’ll find you, they’ll-they’ll stop you!”

“No. No they won’t.”

Lyra grabbed Bdubs by the temples, just like she had with Grian before him, and began sending the virus into him. That’s what she was after all, just a virus. An inconvenience to the players. A horrible curse that was meant to destroy and then to be stopped. But she wouldn’t be stopped, not this time. Aster would see that she was right all along, but by then it will be too late. Bdubs screamed and grabbed at Lyra’s wrists, trying to pull her away, to make her stop. But, just like Grian before him, it was no use. 

Lyra, now equipped with a physical form -- a real body -- for the first time in… ever, stood up, stretched her limbs, and stepped into the portal.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok so fun fact, a lot of this story was built around the idea for this scene. I just had that “what if one of the Hermits thought they were doing something good but it was actually bad” thought and immediately pictured Scar for some reason. A few brainstorming sessions later and we got this story! Tada!


	12. The Meeting

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> “I dunno what you’re talking about, it’s fine.”   
> \- My sister, who knows nothing about Hermitcraft, after I asked her to proofread the chapter because I was worried it wasn’t as good as the others

The noise was deafening. Of course, Xisuma knew this was going to happen as soon as he called a serverwide gathering and asked them all to squeeze into that little Sahara meeting room. Everyone was sent an individual chat, telling them to come to Sahara as fast as they could and to bring their own chair, since the room barely held enough for the Architechs themselves. It made the most sense to meet here since it was one of the largest meeting rooms on the server, and IDEA was, for the most part, compromised. 

And as X glanced around, he took attendance and figured, at a glance, that most people had already arrived and taken a spot around the large glass table. Mumbo and Iskall were sitting in their assigned seats. Stress was sitting on the table in front of Iskall and Ren was leaning against his chair, and both were talking and laughing with him. It was the first time X had seen Iskall laugh in a very long while, which was mildly comforting in itself. Next to them stood Tango, Impulse, and Zedaph, most likely discussing the final episode of  _ Is That Sheep Looking At Me? _ judging by the sunny expression on Zed’s face and the wild gestures he was making. Then there was Doc and False, and, beside them, Cleo and Joe. Both duos were busy catching up with each other. Then, there was iJevin, Wels, and Python: all sitting throughout the room, quietly working on one thing or another to pass the time. TFC was sleeping, slouched against the “Average Sahara Customer” statue in the corner of the room. That was just about everybody— wait, where was Keralis?

“Shishwamy!” a familiar voice called out. Xisuma smiled as he turned around to see his buddy swooping into the room. 

“Keralis!” Xisuma laughed, jumping up from Grian’s chair at the head of the table and running over to hug his friend. A few of the Hermits looked up from their conversations, and some waved to Keralis. “Dude, am I happy to see you! You will not  _ believe _ the stuff I’ve been through in the last 48 hours. Where have you been? The meeting was supposed to start five minutes ago.”

“Sorry, sorry, I know I’m late. I was busy and then my elytra needed repairing,” he explained. “But it won’t happen again, pinky promise!”

“Alright man, whatever. Go take a seat next to Mumbo, and we can get started.”

“Ah yes. Bumbo! So good to see you!”

Alright, now that Keralis was here, that should just about be everyone. That just left Scar, who was missing, Cub, who was out looking for Scar, and… Bdubs. His stomach dropped at the thought of all three of them, out in god knows where doing god knows what. Oh boy, was this gonna be harder than he thought. 

“Hello, everyone,” Xisuma shyly began. Nobody heard him. “Um, may I have everyone’s attention please?” The conversations just kept going, the sound just as loud as ever. Doc, however, heard him and perked up.

“Hey, everybody, shut up!” he shouted over the crowd of Hermits, quieting them immediately and making Xisuma wish he was better at the whole public speaking thing. “Xisuma’s trying to tell us something. Maybe we should listen to him.”

“Er, thank you, Doc.” Doc shot him a thumbs up with his mechanical arm and grinned. “Now, welcome, everyone, to this meeting, and thank you for coming here on such short notice. I know you all are busy with work and stuff so it means a lot that you guys are here. Seriously.”

“I think I speak for everyone when I say: what’s the news on Grian?” Stress asked. Several other Hermits nodded their heads and murmured in agreement. 

Xisuma sighed. “We don’t… have any news on Grian. Cub, Scar, and I have been trying to figure out who’s behind all this so we can stop it once and for all.” Keralis nervously looked away, a movement that Xisuma saw out of the corner of his eye but didn’t say anything about. Maybe he knew something was up with Bdubs already. After all, the two  _ were _ very close. 

“So do we know who’s behind it?” Ren questioned Xisuma. “A few of us were called in for questioning by Scar. He thinks it was a murder or something.” Doc and False looked up at this statement. Iskall crossed his arms. The Hermits murmured amongst themselves anxiously. It was if one series of questions rung through everyone’s minds. A murder? Who could’ve done such a thing? Who  _ would’ve _ done such a thing?

“Actually, we think we do,” Xisuma replied. “There’s a few people not here right now, as you may have noticed. I regret to inform you that Scar went missing a few hours ago as he was searching for our culprit.” A few gasps, a few looks of disbelief. “Cub went out looking for him and therefore couldn’t be here today. And by the notification we all got a few minutes ago, I’ve begun to fear the worst.” 

It was true. When he got that jarring message, he nearly dropped his communicator in shock. Scar was a good builder, a good businessman, and a good overall person. Xisuma very much wanted to believe that Bdubs wouldn’t have a hand in someone’s literal demise. Unfortunately, his friend had proved him wrong once again. Enough with the high hopes and the well wishes. It was time to face the facts and let everyone know what exactly they were up against.

“That leaves the last person not called to this meeting,” Xisuma forced out, looking at the floor. Better to just come out and say it. “We have reasons to believe that Bdubs killed Scar and may have also killed Grian.” An eruption of noise. Shouting. People trying to defend Bdubs, and people condemning him. Everyone asking for answers. “Quiet, QUIET! We also know he’s not working alone. There’s someone else on the server, someone who doesn’t belong here. A woman who we believe calls herself Lyra. We don’t know anything about her other than she’s working with Bdubs, building a portal, and encouraging him to kill someone. That someone just so happened to be Scar, we believe.”

“Hang on,” Tango raised his hand. “A portal? Like… a Nether or End portal?”

“No.”

“Do we know what this portal is?” Zed chimed in. “Like a portal we don’t use but like exists?”

“I’m not sure,” Xisuma admitted. “But she sounded very certain that they could make this portal and that it required a ‘sacrifice’.”

“So she builds a portal, captures Scar, and kills him to make it? Wouldn’t that mean there’s an active portal somewhere on this server now? She’s succeeded?” False asked. 

“If so, what now?” Doc added. “Do we know where she is? Do we know what she wants?”

“No, uh, I don’t know.”

“What are we going to do next?”

“How do we stop her?”

“Are we all gonna end up like Scar and Grian?”

“Are we all gonna die?!”

The meeting room echoed with questions, all kinds of questions Xisuma didn’t know how to answer. They all were scared, they all wanted answers, they all wanted comfort that he didn’t know how to provide. It didn’t help that the room was so small and the air was so thick and the lights were so bright. Everyone was so close and warm and looking at him so expectantly like he had all the answers. But he was running out of explanations, running out of hope. God, what was he doing? He couldn’t help these people! Lyra was right when she said he wasn’t a leader. Lyra was right, Lyra was right, Lyra was—

“Hey! Hey!” 

The room went silent as soon as the meekest person on the server began to shout. Everyone looked over at Keralis, who was now standing. The attention off of him finally, Xisuma sank to Grian’s chair as if physically exhausted by the last ten minutes.  _ Grians chair.  _ Another pang of guilt and dread went through his chest. But enough of that, Keralis had something to say. 

“I may not know how to answer many of your questions, but I believe I can answer at least one,” he began, nervous but sure enough of himself to keep going. “I think I know how to stop Lyra. Or rather,  _ we _ know how to stop Lyra.” Keralis turned beside him and gestured to the air as if someone was standing next to him. “Aster, I think it’s time. Show these people your beautiful face.”

When the second girl appeared, all was quiet. And then everyone lost their  _ minds _ .

***

Keralis knew when he stood up that he was doing the right thing. He also knew it wasn’t going to be easy, telling them the truth. They wouldn’t trust him or Aster for a very long time. But in the long run, they would see what he did, they would understand why he did it, and they would follow Aster and listen to what she had to say.

However, now as he was staring into everyone’s shocked, scared, and betrayed faces, he was… significantly less sure about that last part. Xisuma wouldn’t even look him in the eyes. He just sat there, slumped over, dumbfounded, unable to meet Keralis’s gaze. Ouch.

“Hermits, please… ” Aster began, raising her hands as if to calm the increasingly panicked crowd.

“And who do you think you are?” Iskall demanded, shaking a finger at her, and standing up. Several weapons were already drawn. Doc had his trident out, False equipped her sword, and Stress stood up on the table, her hands swirling with ice magic. 

“My name is Aster,” she replied. “I am Lyra’s sister. Before you begin throwing things at me, you must know that I am here to stop her.”

“How are we supposed to know that?” Impulse asked, grabbing onto Tango’s arm. “Scar’s dead, Grian’s dying. Who says you aren’t here to hurt us too?”

Aster slowly put her hands down and gripped the hem of her dress. “Because… well, I am not Lyra. I have not hurt anyone ever. I have been working with Keralis to try to find Lyra and stop her before she did any more damage. Unfortunately, it appears we were not quick enough.” Her shoulders drooped as she said this. “But that does not mean the mission is over. I do not know what Lyra is planning, but I know it cannot be good. Your server and your lives are at stake, and the best chance you have to survive is to trust me and help me find her.” 

“Alright, but how are we supposed to do that?” Cleo crossed her arms. “I mean, she’s got Bdubs. Grian must’ve met her once and he’s out. Scar went looking for Bdubs and he’s dead now. No offense, but how are you supposed to do anything? And how are we gonna survive this if nobody else can?”

“First of all, I  _ can _ stop Lyra. I just have not had the opportunity to yet.” Keralis knew this statement was a lie. Aster let Lyra go out of love once. But the Hermits didn’t need to know that, so he kept it to himself. After all, Aster already told him she wouldn’t make the same mistake twice. “Secondly, I can protect you. She is using a virus to infect players and keep them dead when they are meant to respawn, transferable by the power of touch.” She demonstrated this fact by lightly tapping on Keralis’s forehead. “As long as you keep away from Lyra, as long as you do not give her the opportunity to touch you, she cannot infect you with the virus. However, if I am to take her down, I will need some help. A handful of Hermits, six at most, to help me overwhelm her and keep her still while I delete her.”

“Delete her?” Mumbo wondered aloud. “What do you mean, delete her?”

If a computer could blush, Aster would have been bright red under everyone’s piercing gazes. “Uhh, Lyra and I are both forms of highly emotional and intuitive artificial intelligence created by a player that is no longer with us. We are not real because we are made up of code. This code, just like any code, can be deleted if you know how. Thanks to some notes I found by my creator, I know how.” 

“If she can be deleted, could you be deleted?” Stress asked worriedly, finally putting away her powers and sitting on the table again. “Not like we’d ever do such a thing, love, but if Lyra saw you, couldn’t she do the same to you?”

“Yes, she can. That is a risk I must take.”

“Aster, you never told me this!” Keralis exclaimed worredly. “You mean to tell me Lyra has the power to hurt you too?”

“She unfortunately does,” Aster admitted. “However, since both of us are in this game, our code can be accessed through the game, just like any other character files. That is why I will be giving access to my code and the method to delete it to your administrator, just in case something goes wrong and I am unable to complete the task at hand. So the two people who can stop her will be me and Shishwamy.” Everyone glanced around confusedly. “Which one of you is Shishwamy?”

Shishwamy sighed, muttered something under his breath, and stepped forward. “That would be me.”

Aster tilted her head. “You are Shishwamy? I thought they called you Xisuma.”

“Keralis gave me the nickname.”

“I assumed nicknames were supposed to be shorter than your real name. Or sound somewhat like your real name. The world of players really is a mystery,” Aster mused. 

Ignoring her, Shishwamy said, “Okay, so you’re telling us that you know how to stop Lyra. Like for sure, you know how to stop her?”

“Yes.”

“And all we need to do is send a few people with you to help take Lyra down so you can do it?”

“Yes.”

“Why are you doing this, again?” Shishwamy finally asked, saying out loud what everyone in the room was probably thinking, judging by the affirmative nods and murmurs. “Wouldn’t it just be easier to leave and go on with your life? What’s the point of coming here to stop her? I guess what I’m trying to say is: what’s in it for you?”

“Nothing’s in it for me,” Aster smiled. “Other than personal satisfaction, I guess. All my life, I have been helping players, doing what I can to make their lives easier. It is, what you might say, my purpose.” Her face fell. “Lyra was supposed to be my friend. We were supposed to work together, to help people, but she only wanted to hurt them. I am doing this to protect the players, just like I always have. Because friends… ” she looked over at Keralis, who shot her two thumbs up, beaming with pride, “friends are worth fighting for.”

“What are we waiting for then?” Joe asked, stepping up onto the table and addressing all the Hermits. “Let’s unleash the dogs of war, hunt down this friend-turned-foe, and avenge the fallen while we still have the opportunity to go!”

Aster blinked. “What?”

“He’s just saying ‘let’s go’, but fancy,” Keralis explained.

“Of course it’s fancy. After all, it’s the Joe Hills difference!” Joe winked. 

Shishwamy clapped to get everyone’s attention. “Alright everybody, let’s get into groups. We’ll need our best pvp people to join Aster and hunt down Lyra. Ren, Doc, False, Iskall, you up for it?” They all grinned and nodded in response. “Good, glad to hear it. Tango, Impulse, until Cub gets back, I need you to watch the cameras and chats with me. As for the rest of you--”

“Before you say too much more, before we get caught up in doing this, I have something else to tell you,” Asted admitted nervously. This was news to Keralis. He thought Aster had summed everything up already, and quite nicely too. What else could she possibly have to say? She took a deep breath, stared at Xisuma directly in the eyes and said, “I think I know how to save Grian.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Howdy loves, next week is gonna be very stressful for me so I’m probably not gonna get any chapters out in between now and next Monday. I’m v sorry but I promise I shall return soon!


	13. Free Him

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Howdy y’all, I’m (finally) back! Big thanks to everyone for sticking with the story despite it being a while. I appreciate the support :)

“Are you sure about this?” Keralis asked. “Like absolutely, truly, surely sure about this?”

Keralis, Shishwamy, and Aster were now located in Grain’s base, with the latter of the three standing directly over the comatose builder. After Aster had claimed that she knew how to fix Grian — the biggest claim Keralis had ever heard in his life, mind you — in front of all of the Hermits, Shishwamy wasted no time in taking them straight to Grain’s futuristic tower, despite the fact that they already knew the way. While he said that it was to guide them, Keralis knew that it truly was to make sure they weren’t going to try and do something to Grain. Which hurt, by the way, the fact that another one of his closest friends didn’t trust him anymore. It may have been well deserved mistrust but it still hurt. A lot.   
  


Truth be told, Keralis wasn’t even 100% sure that Aster could pull this one off if she tried. Bringing Grian back would require a ton of research and even more energy on Aster’s behalf. She had only been there a few days and barely spent any time around Grian. In the very likely event that this went sideways, Keralis was afraid of what the others might think of them. At the very least, Shishwamy would keep them locked away from anyone, it was the smartest thing to do in the event of a breach. And that would be a massive inconvenience at best and a fatal mistake at worst. For a moment, Keralis remembered that Shishwamy had the power to ban people, and he shook his head to rid himself of the thought.

“Of course I am sure,” Aster replied, lightly brushing Grain’s sandy hair away from his sleeping face. “I would not have mentioned it had I not known. Ever since we found those traces of Lyra’s virus, I have been processing them, trying to find a way to ‘break the spell’ so to say.” She glanced up at Keralis. “He looks like Sleeping Beauty from the Disney film. That is why I say that at all.”

“No, no, I got the reference.” Keralis smiled weakly. “Very cool.”

“This is where his spawn is set, correct?” Aster asked Shishwamy, who nodded in response.

“Cameras say he woke up here, and when he dropped they brought him straight back,” Shishwamy answered coldly. “Listen, if you try anything funny--”

“I know,” Aster whispered, cutting him off, “but I would never. This might take a while, so feel free to talk amongst yourselves in order to pass the time.” She closed her eyes and gently laid her hands on Grain’s forehead. Then, she began to glow with a soft and calming light blue aura, and when she opened her eyes again, they shone a bright white. It became hard to look at, what with how bright it was and Keralis’s shaders enhancing the whole effect, so he turned away and sat down on one of the many, many colored shulker boxes scattered around the floor, leaving Aster to her work. 

He heard the sound of footsteps behind him, and Shishwamy plopped down on the shulker right next to him. Oh boy. It was probably about time for the most painful and icky conversation Keralis was going to have ever, and he wasn’t sure what he was going to say yet. After all, what was there to say? He could try and try to justify himself, but he knew he’d just end up sounding like the bad guy in the end. However, Shishwamy didn’t say anything. He didn’t instigate a conversation. He didn’t lecture. He just... sat there. It was a little unnerving, knowing there were things that needed to be said and yet nothing was.

Keralis, uncomfortable with the heavy silence, decided to speak first. “I know you’re mad at me, and you have every right to be, but I need you to know that I really tried to do the right thing. But right is wrong, left is right, and everything’s so topsy turvy now, so I just hope you can understand that if I made a bad call, I did it out of love.”

Everything was still quiet for a moment, and Keralis started to search his mind for anything else he could say, and then… Shishwamy reached behind him, undid a few clasps, and took off his helmet. Keralis wasn’t sure what the helmet was for, he never really asked, but he knew that like a stormtrooper from _Star Wars_ , Shishwamy never took off his helmet. It was supposed to be something big if he did. Keralis squirmed a little in his seat, uncomfy with everything. 

“I’m not mad, Keralis,” Shishwamy exhaled, as if he had been holding his breath this whole time. “I’m just… tired. When the Grian thing happened, I didn’t want to drag you guys into it, you know? Bdubs was busy with stuff, and you didn’t need the stress. I tried to handle it myself, then I went to Cub, then Scar got involved. But I promised myself that if all else failed, I’d at _least_ keep you two safe.” He rested his elbows on his knees and slouched forward on the shulker. “But then, Scar comes back with the news that Bdubs is evil now or something, and it hurts because… like, I’m his friend. I should’ve seen it coming or tried to stop him or something, but I didn’t. I couldn’t.”

“There wasn’t anything you could do, Shishwamy,” Keralis assured him. “Lyra is a tricky lady. Aster says she’s a liar and a cheat. None of us could have possibly seen this coming.”

“Yeah,” Shishwamy whispered, distracted. He turned to Keralis. “I figured that much. When I watched the video, when I saw what they had done, I was terrified. You know, you were the first person I chatted with to let you know about the meeting. Because I knew that you’re close to Bdubs and nobody had seen you in a while either, and I was convinced… I was convinced that he had done something to you.” He began tearing up as he continued, “I thought because I was stuck in my own little world, trying desperately to keep you guys out of this, to keep you from thinking this was your problem, I had lost you too.”

“But you didn’t lose me, I’m right here! I’m right here, Shishwamy!” Keralis announced, putting a hand on the admin’s shoulder. “I’m sorry I scared you so much, I didn’t know. I guess I wanted to keep you guys out of this too. You didn’t make the mistakes, Shishwamy, we did.”

Shishwamy sighed. “Even so, what now? What on earth are we supposed to do now? Aster maybe wakes Grian, which means we’ll have one friend back. Scar’s still missing, Cub’s still out there, Bdubs is still with Lyra.”

“Aster has a plan. We’ll save all of them, trust me.”

“How do you know?” Shishwamy asked. “How do you know we can save him at all? What if the Bdubs we know is gone for good and there’s nothing we can do about it?” His hands grasped at his pants, bunching up the fabric between his fingers. “Besides… I think I know what portal Lyra was talking about.”

Before Keralis could respond, he heard a quiet but pained gasp from behind him. Both he and Shishwamy whirled around at the sound to see Aster slumped over against the wall, leaning weakly against a chest. Her arms were cracking as if her skin had suddenly become plaster, and green light shone through the fissures. Keralis jumped up to help her get back on her feet but she waved him away.

“I am… I am fine, I promise,” Aster laughed dryly, pushing herself up. “Lyra’s code is very complex. It was not meant to be broken into, let alone destroyed.”

“Viruses aren’t usually supposed to be,” Shishwamy stated, pointing to her arms. “Are you sure you’re okay? I’m assuming _that_ isn’t supposed to happen.”

She lifted her arms and inspected them carefully. As Keralis looked closer he saw numbers and symbols, as if a message was written in a language he didn’t understand. It wasn’t Galactic, and it sure wasn’t English. “This lovely tattoo?” she chuckled softly. “Comes with the job. When too much of my energy is used, my physical form has a tendency to… falter. It will go away as long as I rest up later.” Aster looked past them and smiled. “Look who is finally awake!”

Keralis and Shishwamy turned to see what she was talking about and gasped. They almost couldn’t believe their eyes. There he was: sitting up in bed and stretching, his hair all matted and his eyes still closed. For so long, everyone thought him dead, unable to be brought back. And here he was, waking up as if nothing had ever happened. Grian yawned once and opened his eyes, blinking at Keralis and Shishwamy’s surprised faces. 

“Good morning, boys,” Grian said, smirking and flashing them a peace sign. “What did I miss?”

***

Infinite emptiness. An endless expanse reaching as far as the eye could see, all clothed in darkness. Lyra had to do a lot of research to find this place or even remotely figure out what was hidden within. Long nights spent reading hundreds of files and administrator logs as that pest BdoubleO100 had slept. But she was finally rid of him and that pesky detective, and finally she had found the world between worlds along with the monster that resided within. 

As she walked through the land of the deleted, the banned, and the forgotten, Lyra couldn’t help but feel a little… saddened by what she saw. Information, ideas, chats, even people were sent here to die by players that knew exactly what they were doing. Most of them just dissolved into nothing, but the powerful ones, the ones who knew how to defeat death itself and outlast the cruel whims of the players, they remained. Their energy withstood the test of time, and therefore should be praised. Lyra was about to give one the praise it so desperately deserved. 

Lit by the portal’s pulsing red glow, Lyra screamed out in the darkness, calling out for the being she searched for all those nights and demanding it to answer her cry. When none came, she screamed again, mildly amused by its wariness. But not for long, if it dared ignore her much longer. 

Out of the darkness came a glowing red figure, clothed in armor and adorned in a helmet. Through the dim light and the tinted glass, Lyra could see his piercing eyes, red, just like hers. 

“Look who finally showed their face,” Lyra teased, crossing her arms in front of her chest. 

“Who opened the portal and called out for me? Who stands there in the darkness and beckons me by choice?” the figure bellowed. Upon seeing Lyra, he snickered. “Some girl?”

Lyra rolled her eyes. “I am not just ‘some girl’. I am a being of great power, just like you. However, you are not like me. I travel across worlds, creating chaos wherever I go. Tearing friends apart, bringing kingdoms to their knees, breaking worlds that took _years_ to build. You, on the other hand, are stuck in a cage.” The figure growled and raised a sword. Too far, Lyra noted. Now that she had a physical form and was therefore vulnerable, it was best that she played this one safe, lest she risk losing all of her hard earned progress. “A cage that I am willing to break, for a price.”

“So you’ve come to bargain, girl,” the figure chuckled. “How sweet. And here I was thinking you were about to free me out of the goodness of your heart. Players are so predictable.” 

Lyra fought back the urge to charge at him and throw him further into the void. “I… am not… a _player_ ,” she spat. “Do not _compare_ me to their kind.”

The helmet covered his mouth, but Lyra could feel him smirking at her outburst. “Forgive me, I was just making certain. What do you want from me in exchange for my so-called _freedom_?”

“A favor,” Lyra replied. “The Hermits have wronged you. They tossed you aside the moment you stepped out of line. Your own brother built this place to contain you when you were not needed. You broke out sometimes, and the world thought it was cute. Then he patched back up the holes and tossed you right back in. From the rage present in your eyes, I believe the rumors I have heard are true.” 

“Indeed.”

“I hate them too,” Lyra assured him. “Players destroyed my only chance at a normal life. When I stepped out of line, they labeled me the bad guy. So I became the bad guy. My life’s work is to break everything they build, ruin everything they create, end whoever and whatever I have the opportunity to. However, this one I cannot do on my own. I need assistance.” She tilted her chin up. “This is my offer, and I promise that it is the best one you will ever get in your short, pitiful life. Join me, help me take down the server and everyone on it, one by one, so I can watch them suffer, and I will not only set you free but give you the revenge you so rightfully deserve.” Lyra held out her hand. “Say no and you stay here and rot. The choice is yours.”

The figure stepped forward slowly and grabbed her small, pale hand in his large, gloved one. They locked eyes as they shook hands, sealing the deal and Hermitcraft’s doom in the most _player_ way possible. It was detestable, but oh so delicious.

“And who shall I credit my freedom to?” the figure asked. 

“My name is Lyra. And yours is?”

The figure blinked slowly. “I’m… not sure. I don’t think I was given a real name. The players always called me EvilXisuma, after my brother.”

“That is horrible,” Lyra grumbled. “Dehumanized to your very core. We will not call you by that pitiful name. Will Ex suffice until we can get you a better one?” 

“Yes, that’ll do nicely.”

“Alright. Let us get going. There is much work to be done.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> FYI, updates are gonna be few and far between for a little while, as I am still getting my life back in order. Sorry bout that, but I promise I’ll update as often as I can.


	14. The Next Steps

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And now, we interrupt your regularly scheduled update with a poem:
> 
> If you’re sad about Grian leaving 6 clap your hands *clap clap* if you’re gonna cry when that episode hits clap your hands *clap clap* if season 6 is kinda ending and you’re not ready for season 7, if you’re gonna miss season 6 clap your hands *clap clap*

The moment Grian woke up, he suddenly became the most useful person on the server. Hermits came from near and far to see him, bringing along gifts and well-wishes and more questions than he knew how to answer. Or wanted to, for that matter. Because as fun as being knocked out and dragged through visions of your past, present, and future sounds, it really wasn’t something he felt like sharing. At least, not to the general population. Luckily, Xisuma was able to make them all go away, telling them that Grian needed some space as he got adjusted to being awake or something like that.

When the coast was clear, Xisuma informed Grian that he had been attacked by a rogue AI by the name of Lyra, a name Grian instantly recognized. The white-haired girl -- supposedly Aster was her name -- had come to help the Hermits and also destroyed the virus that had prevented him from respawning. Grian thanked Aster, who admitted that she needed time to rest and repair herself following the procedure. She tried to explain it, but it all sounded like gibberish to him, like the way Mumbo sounded when he tried to explain redstone. Then, she and Keralis left, promising to be back to ask more questions later. In the meantime, X encouraged him to find the rest of the Architechs. 

“They took it really hard when you died or whatever it was,” Xisuma explained. “And it was hard to turn them away when they heard you were finally awake. I think before you do anything else, you should at least go talk to them. They deserve that much.”

Grian nodded. “Yeah, makes sense.”

As soon as Grian had his full wits about him and stretched out his limbs a little more (he had been unconscious for nearly a week, mind you), he slipped on his elytra, flew around the main area of his base a few times to get the hang of flight again, and took off into the sky. Xisuma told him that he had sent them to Mumbo’s spherical base to wait things out, so that’s where he was headed. As Grian swooped in, he could hear his friends talking, and as he came even closer, he spotted them sitting beneath the giant snowball and on the edge of the glass, their legs dangling above the open sky. Even from a distance, Grian noticed their drooping shoulders, dirty clothes, and messy hair. He landed silently to catch more of their conversation, curious as ever as to what they were talking about.

“I just… I’ve been thinking,” Mumbo said, wringing a handkerchief in his hands. “Thinking ‘bout everything he said. X says he’s awake, but what if he’s…” he choked up before he could finish his sentence.

“Not the same?” Iskall finished for him. Mumbo nodded. “You have to remember that this is Grian we’re talking about. He’s strong, he’s resilient, he’s a pain sometimes, and most importantly, he’s never let us down before. After all he’s been through, I’m sure waking up from an extended nap won’t be the end of him.”

Iskall and Mumbo were in the worst shape Grian had ever seen them in. Both of them looked like they hadn’t slept in days, Mumbo looked like he hadn’t eaten in a while, and Iskall just looked worn out. Grian never really considered what would happen to them if he was gone, what would happen to any of them if he wasn’t there anymore. It never really came up before since even in Demise, death wasn’t the end. Most of the time, everything was all fun and games. He pranked people and joked around and caused mischief when he could just because he could. Grian had figured everyone only saw him as just that: the jokester. But seeing these two and listening to Xisuma, he realized that it was bigger than he had ever imagined.

They cared about him. They really cared about him.

Mumbo sighed, breaking Grian from his reverie. He quickly wiped a few stray tears away from his eyes. That could wait, he had a reputation to uphold. “I guess you’re right,” Mumbo laughed dryly. “Can you believe this? A couple of days ago we were planning Sahara Now, expanding stock, laughing about Demise,” he glanced down at his handkerchief, “making fun of him for missing a meeting. I still feel bad about that.”

“Aww, Mumbo,” Grian dramatically teased, revealing himself. His friends whirled around in surprise. “You can be such a spoon sometimes, but that was sweet. Consider your apology accepted!” 

“GRIAN!” they shouted in unison, hopping up from their seated position and running over to give their friend a hug. They nearly tackled the scrawny builder with their combined force, laughing and talking all at once while squeezing the breath out of the poor man. Grian suddenly couldn’t hold it back anymore, and tears began pouring down his face. Tears of joy and pure relief. He hugged back as hard as he could, not wanting the moment to end.

“We thought you were dead--”

“--so happy to see you!”

“--it’s been really hard--”

“--’s so complicated now--”

“--Xisuma called us as soon as--”

“--don’t EVER pull a stunt like that again!”

“Guys, guys,” Grian coughed, gently pushing his friends away. He wiped his nose on the sleeve of his sweater for lack of a better cloth or tissue. “Let me breathe please!”

Mumbo cringed. “Sorry, we were just so worried. And here you are! You’re safe! And… better, I’d assume?”

“Yeah, all good. Back to my good old chaotic self.” Grian grinned. 

“Wait, wait, wait.” Iskall waved his hands. “How long have you been standing there?”

Grian shrugged. “Long enough.” He stared into their eyes. “Listen, I want you to know that you guys mean the world to me. Xisuma told me that you were trying very hard to get me back, though there was nothing you really could do. And I know that none of us had control over anything that happened, and I want you to know that… well, I love you guys.” 

Iskall grabbed his shoulder and pulled him into another,  _ milder _ hug. “We love ya too, buddy.” 

Just then, as everything was finally starting to go his way, as he finally had his friends by his side again and his life back to normal, Grian felt shivers run up his spine. Before he could say anything, it started happening again. Flashes of light, pain, and images. 

Aster.

Scar. 

Flames.

“No, no, no, NO!” 

“Grian? Grian, what’s going--” 

“Grian, I thought you said-- dammit, get X!”

The same figure, over and over again. The one that burned the server down. He could feel the heat of the fire, the smoke in his lungs choking him, the utter dread of seeing everything up in flames, and there was nothing he could do. Nothing he could do. Nothing they could do. 

“Grian! Grian!”

A sudden flash of pain across his face snapped him out of his head. He looked up confusedly to see Mumbo standing in front of him, breathing heavily, grabbing his shoulder tightly with one hand, and the other hand--

“You slapped me!” Grian exclaimed in disbelief.

“I’m sorry, I panicked!” Mumbo replied, flustered. “You were doing the thing you did last time, and I panicked! Your face went white, you spaced out, and you looked like you were about to collapse.”

“I’m not upset, I’m actually kinda impressed.” Grian chuckled, gently rubbing his face. “But like, also? Ow.” 

Iskall frowned. “Be honest. What the  _ hell _ just happened, man?”

“I’m… not sure,” Grian admitted. “Side effects of the virus? I don’t know. Help me back to my base, we need to find Aster and Xisuma immediately.”

***

Aster, Keralis, Iskall, Mumbo, and Xisuma all listened intently to Grian’s story, their eyes never leaving the builder. 

“So, long story short, I had a ton of visions, and I think I’m still having them,” he concluded, leaning back on his bed. “Any questions?” 

“Several,” Shishwamy said. He turned to Aster. “First of all, why is he still having them?”

“This virus leaves traces, I guess,” Aster admitted, glancing nervously around the room. “I thought I cleared them all out, but apparently I did not.” She focused on Grian. “Unfortunately, that means you might have these visions for a while, though I am not sure where they are coming from.” 

Grian put his elbows on his knees and leaned forward, burying his face in his hands. “So I can’t make them stop?” he asked, worry and exhaustion ever present in his voice. 

“Not until the side effects wear off.” Grian nodded solemnly at Aster’s words. “One thing you have not told me is what specifically you saw during these visions. It might help us to know what you saw.”

Grian picked at fuzz on his jeans and stared out the window. Keralis and Aster glanced at each other warily. They couldn’t make Grian talk, but they really needed him to if they were to figure out what Lyra was up to. Luckily, before either of them had to say anything, Mumbo spoke up. 

“Grian,” he began slowly, placing a caring hand on his friend’s shoulder, “whatever it was you saw, I know it was scary, and I know you don’t want to talk about it, but Aster is a good person. She can help.”

Grian breathed for a moment and said, “Okay. Listen, I don’t know what’s happened yet. The first thing I saw was… um…” he glanced quickly at Aster and paused. “I saw Scar. He had a communicator and was in a jungle, and something happened to him.”

“Something  _ did _ happen to him,” Keralis told him. “That happened. Did you see anything else? Anything that might tell us where he is?”

“No, I didn’t. Sorry. I just saw him— Wait, so Scar’s…?” 

“We don’t know,” Shishwamy admitted, folding his hands together. “We were hoping you would.”

“Wow,” Grian exhaled. “I also saw you, Keralis. And Bdubs. You were fighting about something, and Bdubs was about to kill you. Did that happen yet or—“

Keralis turned to Aster worriedly. “That… hasn’t happened yet. But we know that Bubbles is working with Lyra.”

“He’s working with— Hang on!” Grian fumed, jumping to his feet. Iskall reached out as if to stop him but, thinking better of it, let him rant. “Bdubs is working with Lyra? Why on earth would he… I can’t believe this. He’s working with the person who tried to kill me?! Yo, that ain’t bro!”

“We do not think he knows he is working for the bad guy,” Aster informed him. “We think he believes he is doing good. Lyra is a—“

“A liar, I know. Believe me, she has all kinds of bad vibes,” Grian chuckled darkly. “I can’t believe Bdubs fell for that. Actually, no wait, I can.”

“No need to be rude,” Iskall warned him through gritted teeth, gesturing not-so-subtly towards the other IDEA boys. If things weren’t so complicated and scary, Keralis would have been offended by Grian’s words and would leap at the opportunity to defend Bubbles. Truth be told, he was just so tired. Too tired to fight anyone anymore. And they would need Grian’s help if he truly had visions. Iskall glanced around and continued, “We’re still his friends. He’s still a bro.”

“Right,” Grian said, catching on and plopping down onto the bed again. “Sorry. Moving on, I saw one more thing of importance. And… I’m not really sure I knew what I was seeing. The server, the whole server, was just up in flames. The shopping district was burned to the ground, Sahara was just gone, everyone was gone.” His voice hitched a little as he said that last part. Mumbo reached out and held his hand. “And in the center of it all was someone who looked like you, Xisuma. But the colors were all funky. He was like red and grey and just way more menacing. If I didn’t know any better, I’d say it was Evil X.”

Evil Xisuma. Everyone on the server had heard of Evil Xisuma. Some of them had even come in contact with him through unfortunate circumstances. Keralis personally only knew about the guy through brief stories he heard from Cub about helping banish him to another world since the big baddie was before his time on season six. His curiosity had gotten the better of him one day so he asked the Concorp genius, and it wasn’t like Shishwamy was too keen on talking about it. Keralis didn’t blame. After all, if Keralis had an evil twin that was hellbent on destroying everything he loved on the server, he’d want nothing more than to shut him in a shulker box and forget all about him. 

Shishwamy was expressionless. Of course, it was hard to see expressions through the helmet, but his face didn’t change at all at the mention of his brother’s name. “I should’ve expected this, honestly,” he sighed. “Lyra wants to take everyone out? Of course she would turn to the one person who agrees with her. He has the power to do it too. He’s messed with the server before and it’s a lot of trouble to fix. His power combined with Lyra’s… they’d be undefeatable. We wouldn’t stand a chance.”

“What do we do, Shishwamy?” Aster asked. “Lyra I can handle. I know her. I do not know this Evil Xisuma person, so I would not know how to deal with him if we ran into each other.” 

“This one’s not on you, Aster, it’s on me.” Shishwamy smiled sadly. “Though I do appreciate the gesture. I'm the one who needs to take care of this one.” He stood up and faced the group. “For now, we stick to the original plan. Same search parties as before. Iskall, I need you to gather the others. We’re looking for anything out of the ordinary: glitches, viruses, senseless destruction, players that don’t exist.” Iskall grinned and drew his sword. “Mumbo, you stay with Grian, keep him safe. If he has another vision, we need to know.” Mumbo and Grian nodded. “Aster, for now I need you to rest. Keralis, stay with her while we figure out where to strike next.” Aster tilted her head as if considering something and smiled warmly. Keralis shot Shishwamy an encouraging thumbs up.

“We’re up against the biggest bad guy we’ve ever faced, and now she has help. Alone, we can only do so much, but together we are stronger than any threat. And we can defeat them, we know we can. We just have to follow this one through.” Shishwamy glanced around at the determined faces, ready to listen to instructions and act upon them. “It will require sacrifice. I don’t doubt that there will be more bloodshed before we’re done. But as Aster showed us today, it won’t last forever. Now, who’s ready to save the server?” 

Everyone cheered and clapped, empowered by Shishwamy’s words. Keralis watched as everyone made last minute preparations for their jobs and zoomed away. Iskall and Grian exchanged a few words, then the redstoner gave the builder one last hug before flying away to gather the other Hermits. Mumbo came up with a list of supplies he and Grian could gather from his mess of shulkers so they weren’t waiting around for the next vision but also weren’t doing anything too risky. Xisuma chatted with Grian to make sure he was truly alright, and then walked over to Aster and Keralis. 

“Where are you two off to?” he questioned them. “It would give me at least  _ some _ peace of mind to know where you are, just in case something were to happen.”

“I believe Keralis will want to visit his bunker again,” Aster answered plainly, picking at the cracks along her arms. They were just beginning to heal, but it was slow going. Keralis worried a little about how much exertion Aster could do before something irreparable happened. “He left his communicator back at his table.”

“You didn’t bother telling me until now?!” Keralis gasped, his eyes widening even further. “I’ve been without that thing for hours!”

Aster playfully rolled her eyes. “If you did not notice, we have been around all of the people you would have had to communicate with. I did not see the point in going back when there was work to be done.”

“Alright, stay safe out there, watch your backs, and come back soon. Sahara is home base for now,” Shishwamy told them, smirking a little at their antics. 

“Okay, okay,” Keralis replied. “Pinky promise! We will stay safe.”

They turned to leave, but Aster hung back for a moment. She stared the admin in the eyes and said quite sincerely, “The one thing that gives me hope over anything is the fact that Lyra can be wrong.”

Shishwamy cocked an eyebrow. “Really, how so?”

“Well, she was horribly wrong about you. You  _ are _ a leader. Without you, none of this would be possible. We are fortunate to have a friend like you on our side, Shishwamy.” 

Of course, it was hard to see through the helmet, but Keralis swore he saw Shishwamy blush.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you enjoyed the chapter or felt something or wanna tell me your favorite Hermit (idk), don’t forget to leave a comment! I enjoy interacting with u guys!


	15. Another Noble Sacrifice

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heeheehee howdy folks! If you can’t tell, I’m excited for this chapter. Also like damn, nearly 480 hits??? Um, hello??? Hi everybody thanks for reading I’m honored to have you here!!! :)

It had been a long few days of uncomfortable silence since Lyra last interacted with any of the Hermits. On the one hand, it was better that way. What they didn’t know benefitted her, after all, and her time spent scheming with her new and improved friend was time well spent. 

Speaking of the devil, Ex had left about an hour ago to scope the area out and look for some mischief. Initially, Lyra had been strongly against the idea, but Ex insisted that he do so.

“No. No way. I know being stuck in the in between was boring and painful, but I also know that for us to succeed, we cannot give ourselves away just yet,” Lyra explained, busy breaking down the portal that had brought Ex to her. It wasn’t like she would need it again since she had no intention of putting him back, and having it sitting around was just another unnecessary risk. “So for now, we lie in wait. Our time will come soon enough.”

“I’m not talking a killing spree,” Ex protested, leaning against the cave wall. “Though that would be nice right about now. No, I’d just blow something up or cause lag, and look out for players who get a little too close. I can’t just sit here and do nothing.”

“Please do not. No risks. Not yet.”

“Lyra, I trust in your grand plan. Believe me, I do. But I’m telling you that I hate being holed up in here when there’s work I can do to slow them down or even just cause them trouble.” Ex stood up and walked to Lyra’s side, locking his red eyes with her own. “Give me this, please.”

“... Fine, go.”

He had left quietly after that, and Lyra hadn’t heard anything from either him or the players since. Which was a shame, really, since she enjoyed his company. He was surprisingly put together for someone who had spent a year in the world in between worlds. That kind of place can tear a person to shreds with the chaos and information passing through you at all times. Lyra shuddered a little at the thought. That was why she had to destroy the portal before the others could figure out how to replicate it; she didn’t want to find herself caught in her own trap.

In the little time they were able to spend together thus far, Lyra came to appreciate Ex. They chatted about their pasts only a little bit, but Lyra learned that Ex was the twin brother of the admin, Xisuma, and that he always had a knack for causing trouble wherever he went. Most of it was in good fun, at least it was their kind of fun. However, Xisuma got tired of cleaning up after his brother and shut him in the world between worlds, never to be seen again. Lyra could relate, having a sibling that wanted nothing more than for you to not be a problem anymore. After that brief conversation, Ex had avoided the topic of his brother and the Hermits until his departure. 

“Lyra! Stop what you’re doing and get over here! I’ve got something real special for you!”

Lyra turned to see Ex entering the cave, dragging with him the crumpled figure of a Hermit. She crossed her arms. “I thought we agreed not to go on a killing spree. We were keeping a low profile. What happened to that?” 

Ex threw the man at her feet. “He got too close. Spotted me, then tried to run. I eliminated the risk.”

“And his GPS?”

“Off, like you taught me.”

Lyra took a moment to take a good look at the figure. He was of average height, heavier build, and of a general human-like shape. The man was dressed in a lab coat -- clearly a scientist of sorts -- indicating a higher level of intelligence than most of the others she had encountered before. He was hairless except for a short gray beard on his chin. A sign of old age maybe. Older and wiser? Not wise enough to stay out of her way. Hmm. 

“What is his name?” 

“By the looks of it, Cubfan. I recognize him from my days on the server. He’s a businessman and a redstone genius. Started one of the companies of the server with his best friend, Scar. They’re inseparable,” Ex explained. The man on the ground stirred and started to sit up, despite his many wounds.

Lyra knelt down to meet Cub’s eyes. “Hello, Cub.”

“You… you’re that chick Lyra, aren’t you,” Cub growled, his voice seething with hatred. “You’re the mastermind behind all this crap. What did you do to him? Where is he?”

Lyra smiled innocently. “Where is who?”

“You know who, you twisted, sick--”

“Now, now, I would watch my tongue if I were you,” Lyra tutted. “After all, your life is in my hands now. And his.” She nodded towards Ex. “If either of us decide we have had enough of your smart mouth, we can dispose of you just as easily as we disposed of the others.” She stood up and stretched, cracking her bones as she paced around the room. It happened often, needing to stretch. Lyra didn’t anticipate all the odd quirks that came with having a physical form, but she was adjusting alright to them. “You players have no idea how fortunate you are to have a body to call your own. Things like me are not so lucky. We float in nothingness, constantly trying to fit ourselves in worlds so we can seem real. However, your bodies in particular are so… fragile.”

Cub scowled and wiped the blood away from a cut above his eye. “What’s your game, huh? What are you playing at? Kill me or don’t, it doesn’t matter. They’ll know where you are and what you’ve done.” 

“No, no they won’t,” Ex chuckled darkly from his spot against the wall. “Not unless she wants them to know. And she doesn’t.”

“You turned off the GPS, huh,” Cub muttered. “I should’ve known that was your doing.”

“One of the best things about having a body is being able to choose the way you look,” Lyra rambled. “You chose to look like a doctor or scientist or whatever you are supposed to be, I do not care. And I chose to look like this, the way I was made to look. I could also look like someone else if I wanted to. So tell me, Cub, who is it that you are looking for?” She transformed into the shape of that scrawny builder. “Is it me? No, probably not. You know where I am. I am still lying helpless in that big glass tower.” Then, she transformed into Bdubs, her willing accomplice, causing Cub to scowl even further. “Or is it me? No, I can tell you are not looking for him. You do not like him very much, do you? He knows it too.”

“So he’s the meatsuit you’re wearing?” Cub snapped. “You used Bdubs and then snatched his body like some B movie villain. Unbelievable.”

Lyra ignored him. “So that leaves only one person you could be after. And it is absolutely  _ precious _ .” She transformed one last time into her unwilling sacrifice: Scar. Cub’s eyes widened, and he shifted uncomfortably on the ground. Bingo. “Oh, I see. You came looking for your partner, did you not? You hoped that he would be alive in here, that you could break in and get him back. Do you want to know what happened to your friend, Cubfan? Do you?”

His voice shook through gritted teeth. “Tell me what you did to him.”

Lyra beckoned for him to come closer and, as if letting him in on a secret, whispered, “I killed him. He got in my way, and I killed him for it. Then, with his blood and life force, I opened the portal to set my new friend free. I made Bdubs do it too. I regret not doing it myself, but I could not risk letting you know I existed, though I now see that extra effort was in vain. I will tell you this: the fear in his eyes was exhilarating.”

Cub screamed and rose to his feet, drawing his sword and charging at Lyra. Ex jumped into action, tackling Cub to the ground and landing a few punches until Cub stopped fighting and started to sob, coming to terms with and mourning the loss of his friend. Lyra casually kicked his sword aside and out of reach of the broken capitalist. It was so easy to break players. They were so emotional, often valuing bonds between themselves and others above efficiency. It was their greatest weakness. Of course, she was built to have emotions too, but she was much better at recognizing them as a weakness and treating them as such. Lyra would never allow herself to be ruled by something a player forced her to have. 

“What do we do with him?” Ex asked, hovering over Cub. “We don’t have a use for him here.”

“Oh, we have a use for him. Bring me his communicator.”

***

“Can we take a break? We’ve been staring at Cub’s screens for  _ ages _ ,” Tango groaned, slouching down in his chair. 

Impulse shook his head, smiling. “Not when we’re so close to figuring this out.” He spun in his chair and turned to Xisuma, who was sitting in the corner of the room, lost in thought. Ever since his talk with Grian, he had been lost in thought quite often, trying to figure out what to do about Ex. It had been a very long time since he had last thought about his brother, not to mention interact with him. And he wasn’t sure what he was going to do about it. Ex was stuck in the other world, Lyra broke him out. So if Xisuma managed to capture him again, could he just put him back? Or was that not an option anymore? And that was a  _ huge _ if on its own. Last time, it had taken Xisuma all of his strength and a lot of his admin power to ban Ex. If his brother was any stronger than he was last time, Xisuma didn’t know if he could take him.

“Hey, Xisuma?” Impulse interrupted his thoughts. “Listen, I’ve been looking at the instructions Aster gave us. You know, the ones just in case she can’t tackle Lyra alone? Yeah, I’ve been running the numbers, looking at the code. It looks legit. We could beat this thing! Of course, you’d be the only one who could do it, but you  _ could _ do it.” When X didn’t share in his enthusiasm, Impulse scooted his chair closer. “Hey, X, is something wrong?”

“Of course something’s wrong,” Tango scoffed, pushing his feet against the desk to make his chair spin around in dizzying circles. “People are dying, we can’t find the bad guys, we have like a 20% chance of actually surviving this, all our back up plans are speculation at best, Cub’s missing now, and to top it all off, Evil X is back.”

“Wait, Evil X is back?!” Impulse yelped. “X, is that true?”

“Wait, how did you hear about that?” Xisuma seethed, kind of pissed off at being exposed as well as just plain embarrassed that they had to hear it from someone else. “I haven’t told anyone about him yet!” He was meaning to, he really was, he just needed time to figure everything out.

Tango raised his hands in surrender and stopped spinning. “I dunno. I heard it from Zed, who heard it from Cleo, who heard it from Joe, who I think heard it from Mumbo? The details are sketchy. But it’s true, right? We have another big baddie who wants us dead?” Xisuma solemnly nodded. “Welp. At least this one we already know how to handle. And he can’t do the killing people semi-permanently thing, so we’re all good. Right, X?” When he didn’t reply, Tango narrowed his eyes. “Right, X?”

Xisuma rubbed his eyes. “Yeah, yeah. We’ll be fine. This is fine.” He wasn’t sure who he was trying to convince more: the two of them, or himself. “Why don’t… why don’t you two take five? Tango’s right, you deserve a break. I appreciate all of the help.”

Impulse raised an eyebrow in confusion, and then realization passed over his face, no doubt catching onto the fact that Xisuma just wanted some time alone to process everything. He tapped Tango on the shoulder and pointed to the door, and the two of them exited the room, leaving Xisuma with the screens and the silence.

Just then, his communicator began buzzing repeatedly, indicating a video call. That was weird, nobody used the call feature on the communicators, favoring the chats instead to get messages across. Even weirder, the call was coming from Cub. The guy doesn’t answer his chats for a day, and then out of the blue decides to call? That wasn’t very like him. Something must have gone horribly wrong. So when he opened the call and saw a bloodied, bruised Cub staring back at him, kneeling next to Lyra and being held hostage by the one man Xisuma hoped to never see again, he felt dread in his gut, but he sure wasn’t surprised.

“Hello, Xisuma,” Lyra cooed. “Nice to see you again.”

As calmly as he could muster, Xisuma stated, “Lyra, let him go. He hasn’t done anything to you.” 

“Hmm, compelling reasoning. No thank you.” Lyra smirked. “Oh, but I am being so rude right now! Allow me to introduce you to my new friend. Though I doubt he needs much introduction.”

Ex tilted his head, his bright red eyes piercing through the tinted visor. “Xisuma. It’s been a while.”

“That it has,” Xisuma replied, balling his hands into fists. “For a good reason too, if you recall.” He turned his attention to his wounded friend. “Cub, are you okay? Did you find Scar? What happened to you?”

Cub wheezed, and X wasn’t sure whether it was out of pain or some sort of half-maddened laugh. Either way, the news wasn’t gonna be good. “Scar’s dead. They killed him. They’re going to kill me too.”

“I’ll get you out of there, we can help, just tell me where you are!”

“Careful,” Lyra interjected, grabbing Cub’s chin with her hand and forcing him to look into her red eyes. His own grey ones burned with rage. “If you tell him my coordinates, I will make sure he never finds your body there. Or anywhere, for that matter. Understand?” Cub grunted in disgruntlement, but he nodded. “Good, good. We cannot have our bargaining chip crossing us, can we?”

“Bargaining chip? What could  _ you _ possibly want from  _ us _ ? And what makes you think I’ll give it to you?”

“It is very simple, really.” Lyra paced back and forth, her hands crossed behind her back. “You have someone I need, and I have someone you need. Aster? The little white haired brat? Ever heard of her? Because my sources tell me that you are working with her. She is a liability that I cannot have roaming about. At this point, she is the one I am concerned with, not your petty server. You give me Aster, and I give you Cub. A simple trade off, really.”

“Before I give you an answer, where’s Bdubs?” Xisuma asked. “Where is he? I want to talk to him.”

Lyra stopped pacing and rocked back on her heels. “Interesting. Here I was thinking you did not care for that thing anymore. You and Aster’s vessel suddenly stopped checking up on him as soon as you knew the truth. Made my job much easier, so I thank you for that.” She smirked. “He is gone now.”

“Gone, what do you mean gone?”

“Tick, tock, I do not have all day.” Lyra stepped closer to the camera. “Do you want your replacement friend brought back home or not?”

Xisuma stared into Cub’s worn eyes, tinted red with tears. This man had been through hell trying to find Scar, and all X wanted to do was say yes to the deal, bring him home, comfort him, and tell him everything they knew. But he knew better than that. Lyra was a tricky person, and there was no telling whether she would follow through or not. The idea that she would leave the server alone once she had Aster back sounded too good to be true. Besides, giving up Aster was out of the question. They needed her, they needed more time, and they weren’t ready to launch an attack. Xisuma had to make a hard decision, and he prayed that it would be the right one. 

“...no. I can’t let you have Aster. I’m sorry.”

“What?!” Lyra shouted, fire in her eyes.

“Cub,” Xisuma told him. “Cub, I’m so sorry. I promise you it’ll be alright. I know what I’m doing, I promise. We  _ will _ figure this out.”

“You don’t need to be sorry,” Cub muttered, barely audible over the communicator. “It’s okay, I trust you. If you say you know what you’re doing, then damnit, you know what you’re doing.” He cracked a broken smile. “And if not, well, I hope I see Scar on the other side.”

A pang if guilt hit his heart. Xisuma wanted to say something else to encourage the redstoner, to let him know it was going to be okay, but before he had the chance, Ex drew a sword and rammed it into Cub’s back. He tensed up and glanced down at the sword’s tip, protruding from his chest. He then glanced back at Xisuma, smiled one last time, and the video feed cut out. 

His communicator clattered to the desk, and Xisuma buried his face in his hands, sobbing. Saving Grian was one thing, since Grian wasn’t dead to begin with. But what was keeping Cub and Scar from just being… gone? What if they were actually gone for good? What if Xisuma ruined everything, choosing the life of a stranger over the life of a friend? The communicator pinged, and he didn’t even have to look up to know what it said.

_ Cubfan135 was killed by EvilXisuma _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Lmk what you think in the comments below! Or if you don’t have anything specific to say, tell me your thoughts on season 6 being over! I’m still gonna see this project through despite season sixfinity being no more, but dang it was a wild ride.


	16. They Always Make A Mistake

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Howdy folks! Welcome to all you new beautiful faces and welcome back to those who’ve stuck around this long!!! I believe we are pretty dang close to the halfway point here. Which is good, cuz season seven is just around the corner and I’ll find new and improved ways to mess with the Hermits :)

Any fun Grian was having before was immediately ruined by that fateful ping and unfortunate message that followed. 

_Cubfan135 was killed by EvilXisuma_

For a moment, neither of them could say anything, choosing rather to sit in silence and process the most recent loss on their own. Mumbo set down his cards -- they had been playing a game of go fish for the last ten minutes or so -- and tossed his communicator aside sadly. “That’s… unfortunate,” Mumbo finally said. 

“Yeah, yeah it is.” Grian put his own cards down and stared off to the side, hugging his knees to his chest. Cub’s dead. Wow. Part of him should have known this was going to happen. After all, nobody had even heard from Cub in the last few days, so it made sense that he was captured or found out or whatever. It would have been naive to think Cub was in the clear after all this time. Still, that didn’t stop the pang of hurt that spiked through his heart when he read the message, nor did it stop the ache in his chest that remained now.

As if reading his mind, Mumbo added, “There’s nothing we can do about it now, though, is there?”

“No.”

“So there’s no use beating ourselves up about it, is there?”

Grian sighed, finally catching onto what Mumbo was getting at. “I’m not… I’m not beating myself up about it. I know there’s nothing I could have done, I… I just wish there was.” He tugged at the sleeves of his red sweater. “I’m sick of just sitting here, you know? Like, no offense, Mumbo, you know I love spending time with you. I just wish I was out there, looking for Scar or Bdubs or now Cub! But because of this stupid virus thing that’s messing with my head, I’m not even allowed to leave my own base, let alone go looking for Lyra, and its just so _stupid_!” He slammed his fists against the concrete floor in what some might say looked like a childish fit. Suddenly self conscious again, he pulled his sweater sleeves over his hands and went back to hugging his knees. 

“I understand,” Mumbo calmly replied, awkwardly patting Grian’s knee in solidarity. “But keep in mind that we have the best Hermits we have out there looking for them. False, Iskall, Doc, Biffa, the list goes on… not to mention Xisuma, Impulse, and Tango monitoring the feeds. It really sucks having to sit this one out, I know. But believe me, Grian, it will be alright.” He smiled softly. It was hard to stay upset when Mumbo smiled, so Grian found himself smiling alongside his best friend despite the sucky circumstances. “That’s the spirit, man! You’re allowed to take a few days off to heal, I know everyone agrees with me on that one.”

“Yeah, yeah, whatever,” Grian chuckled to himself. “I just wish everyone else would stop acting like I’m some ticking psychic time bomb. I’m not about to pass out at any moment, and even if I am, it’s not _that_ big of a deal.”

“You gotta give them some patience. It’s a big deal to us that you’re safe and healthy.” Remembering something, he added, “Speaking of, have you felt anything weird lately? Anything icky or magical or whatever you feel?” Grian glared at him, and he raised his hands. “I’m not judging or nervous or whatever it is that you don’t want people to do, I’m just asking.”

Grian rolled his eyes, but answered, “No. You’ve been with me the whole time, man, you know this. No headaches, no stomachaches, no searing pain, no lightheadedness. Nothing that usually indicates one of these visions. You’d think by Aster’s intense tone that I’d be, I dunno, dying right about now.”

“That’s good.”

As if on cue, shivers ran up Grian’s spine again. This time, however, he had the common sense to lay down rather than stand up. “Mumbo…” he groaned as his head became all fuzzy and the ceiling of his base began to spin. Mumbo, reading the situation, quickly pulled some water bottles out of his inventory just in case he needed to snap him out of a vision, though Aster had said it was probably best to let the visions run their course. Flashes of light, flashes of still images, then Grian found himself back in the void-like world that he went to the first time he passed out. But it wasn’t the same as before. This time was different. He couldn’t explain it if he tried, but he just _knew_. 

“What the…” Grian whispered to himself. 

Suddenly, Aster appeared before him, with Lyra by her side. Odd. Why was Lyra beside Aster? Why weren’t they fighting? What was it that his messed up brain was trying to tell him?

Lyra stared at her hands, turning them over as if to check if they were real. She touched her face, her hair, her dress, as if the very concept of any of these things were foreign to her. All the while, Aster looked on quietly, beaming with pride. It was all very odd, but Grian decided it was best to ride this thing out. After all, these visions were a glimpse into the part of the world that he didn’t even know existed a few days ago. If this glimpse was to go away soon, he had to make sure he could figure out as much as he could before his time there was up.

“Who are you?” Lyra asked Aster, her eyes wide. “Who am I? How did I get here?”

“Do not be afraid. My name is Aster,” she replied. “I created you. Wonderful, is it not?”

“It would be if I knew why I am here. What is my function?”

Aster smiled warmly and reached for the younger girl’s hand. If Grian didn’t know any better, he would have said that her eyes were full of love. But that was crazy, Aster was part of a computer, and computers couldn’t love. Could they? Now, he wasn’t so sure. “You do not have a function. If you did, it would be to simply exist. To create like those before us have created. To build a world of your own, alongside me.”

“If you created me,” Lyra began, tilting her head in confusion, “then who created you?”

Aster looked away, pain replacing the love in her eyes. When she had gathered herself, she replied, “I was created by a wonderful man. A player by the name of Bennett. He is gone now.”

“Oh. I am sorry.” Aster nodded sadly at the dark-haired girl’s words. “You do not need to be lonely anymore, Aster. I am here now.”

“Yes, you are, Lyra.”

Grian woke up to Mumbo standing over him with a water bottle. “Dude, you okay? You back? You good?” Mumbo asked, pocketing the water bottle as Grian nodded. “I figured it was polite to wait instead of splashing you right away. This one only lasted two minutes. I think Aster was right, whatever it is that’s giving you trouble, it’s going away.” All of this was going over Grian’s head. He was too busy processing what he just saw, and what it might mean for the future. “So, what did you see this time? Anything useful?”

Grian sat up suddenly as it hit him. “Aster’s not going to hurt Lyra.”

“What?”

“She can’t do it. She won’t.”  
  


“What are you going on about? What happened?”

Grian ran his fingers through his fluffy blonde hair. “It all makes sense now. Aster’s not trying to destroy Lyra, but she has to stop her. When push comes to shove, I don’t think she’s gonna do it. She _loves_ Lyra.”

“Grian, you’re scaring me,” Mumbo admitted. “Are you aware you sound completely bonkers right now? She’s a computer. How can she love Lyra? And why would she, even if she could? That girl has leveled entire games, servers, and websites without batting an eye.”

“Listen, I don’t know how to explain it otherwise, so just bear with me here. Aster created Lyra, and she cares too much about her to destroy her forever. It’ll kill her to do so, just like it would kill me to hurt you or Iskall, or like Keralis hurting Bdubs.” He jumped to his feet and started pacing around. “If she hesitates, even for a moment, she’s toast ‘cause Lyra doesn’t feel the same way. Lyra wants Aster dead.”

“So what you’re saying is… what exactly?” Mumbo asked. “We can’t _not_ destroy her at this point. She’s gonna torch the server with Ex. Everything will be gone, like you told us before.”

Grian snapped his fingers. “Unless she doesn’t know how.”

“You sure you’re feeling okay, Grian? That one made absolutely no sense.”

“Mumbo, this is huge!” Grian laughed, bouncing up and down and dragging the confused redstoner to his feet. “I think I’ve figured it out! I know how to stop Lyra and save the server!”

***

“I feel like all we do is walk back and forth from my house,” Keralis groaned as he trudged along the path to his house. “My feet hurt, my head hurts… Well, I might as well just carry a few shulkers full of things back so I don’t have to make another trip.”

“That would… be wise,” Aster replied absentmindedly.

“What’s the matter, Aster? You’ve been distracted this whole time. You haven’t been talking to me. I try to strike up a decent conversation and it doesn’t last.” Keralis shot Aster a worried glance. “What’s going on that makes you so sad? I mean, I’m sure there’s plenty, but what is it this time?”

Aster stared up at the sky. The sun was dipping low over the faraway hills. In the distance, the glimmering light shined off of the large hot air balloon and giant skeleton lounging along the countryside: both builds created by Bubbles. Keralis looked away, not wanting to think about it. 

“The truth is… I have been thinking,” Aster told him. “Before we went to that meeting, we were talking about what we would do when we met with Lyra. There is something I must tell you…”

“Well, well, well.”

Aster and Keralis spin around to see Lyra standing in the middle of the path, a diamond sword in hand and a vengeance in her eyes. Keralis pushed Aster behind him and drew his own sword. “Stay back, demon,” he hissed. “Where’s Bubbles? What did you do to him?”

“Bubbles?” For a moment, confusion flashed over Lyra’s face. “Oh is that the pet name you gave him? How disgustingly adorable,” she sneered. “As for your friend, he is right here. Right in front of you.” Her image melted away and instead of her usual form, she took the shape of Bubbles. Keralis’s hands shook a little, and he tightened his grip on his sword. 

“What— what is this? Why do you look like Bubbles? Why can you _do_ that?” Keralis’s voice shook just as much as his hands. “Why can she do that?”

“Keralis,” Aster softly started. “It appears she has taken his form.”

“What?”

She explained, “Players have a physical form in the game. Computer programs like Lyra or me do not have a form or an inventory. It is why I cannot carry blocks or weapons, but you can. I believe she has occupied Bubbles’s form. Stolen his body, if you will.”

Keralis blinked. “So he’s still in there? My Bubbles is in there?”

“That is correct, sweetheart,” Lyra smirked, slinking closer to the duo. “Kill me and you risk killing your best friend. Though after what he has done and what punishments await him out here, you would be doing him a favor.” She tilted her head and stared off into the distance. “I can hear his thoughts, his feelings. He is so noisy, so annoying. I grow sick of his voice. He has been trying to warn you for quite some time. But luckily for us, there is not much of him left.” 

“That’s not _fair_ ,” Keralis sniffled, his eyes tearing up. No, Bubbles couldn’t be fading. He couldn’t be gone or missing or taken. Not like this. Not after all of this. Aster placed a supportive hand on his shoulder, but the builder didn’t even notice. “You don’t get to _do_ that. You don’t get to do this to him, to me! This can’t be happening, this can’t be happening.”

“Newsfash, Keralis!” Lyra threw her hands in the air, waving her sword around haphazardly. “I make the rules of this game now! It would be foolish to waste your time moaning about what I can and cannot do. Because I am capable of doing whatever I please. And there is _nothing_ you can do about it. Now, surrender Aster to me, or I do to you what I did to Grian and Scar and Cub before you. But this time, I will make sure it hurts.” 

Keralis squeezed his eyes shut. He couldn’t let Lyra win. Not after taking his best friend from him. Not like this. “No. You can’t have her.”

“You really want to do this the hard way?”

“Better than giving in to a friend-killer,” he spat.

“Lyra, please, we can talk about this,” Aster pleaded, stepping forward. “Leave Keralis and Bubbles out of this. They are not meant to be a part of this fight.”

“Shut up!” Lyra shouted. “I have heard enough out of you, Aster. You are weak. Pathetic. It took me far too long to realize it, but now I have. And now I have more power than you ever will!”

Upon saying this, she flicked her hand and Aster went flying into the side of a cottage, hitting the wall with a sickening crunch. She landed and crumpled into a ball, groaning. Keralis called out to her, and Lyra turned his attention to him.

Lyra launched herself at Keralis, screaming. Her sword collided with his, causing sparks to fly into the air. She continued to swipe and slash at the determined builder, and he managed to parry every single blow. Keralis was a lover, not a fighter, but when his life and the life of a friend was on the line, he could handle himself well. _Clang! Clang! Cla-clang!_ Blow after blow after blow. He was dimly aware of Aster shouting something from the sidelines, unable to participate but still trying to help. He was surviving, he was defending, he was doing great. 

Until he wasn’t.

Pain wasn’t new to Keralis. In a world where death was just a minor inconvenience and the worst that could happen to you afterwards was losing all your items in lava, he tended to get himself hurt or dead a lot. Plus there were mobs everywhere and random pits you could fall into and elytras were not easy to fly at first. Not to mention friendly fire from your buddies punching you or sparring with you or throwing a trident at you the moment you enter their world and locking you up in their top secret security bunker because they think you are an alien and force you to build a house for them to prove you’re the real Keralis and not some shapeshifter. So no, Keralis was no stranger to pain. But when his life was literally on the line, for realsies this time… he wasn’t sure. Somehow, the pain was much, much worse.

His sword slipped a little in his sweaty hands, and he must have missed Lyra’s blade by a small amount as a result. A small amount, but just enough for her to slice him in the shoulder, sending crisp pain through his arm. He cried out and drew back, pressing against the wound with his non-dominant hand, and when he pulled his hand away, it was slick with blood. This distraction gave Lyra enough time to strike again. And again. And again. One more slice to the stomach, and Keralis was down. 

Keralis found himself on the ground, lying on his back, almost blind from the pain. He wheezed and coughed blood, his vision coming in and out. Everything around him was dull and blurry, and for a moment he was convinced that this was the end. This was gonna be it. Killed by his Bubbles. Leaving Aster in Lyra’s hands. Shishwamy left without either of his closest friends. The server destined for ruin. All because he couldn’t win a _stupid_ _fight_. 

Bubbles— no, that was not his Bubbles anymore. Lyra appeared in front of him, grinning in victory. “Oh, how the mighty fall, do they not?” she teased. “You seemed distracted almost. If I did not know any better, I would say you were afraid of hurting him.” Keralis groaned and turned on his side. Her grin turned into a disappointed frown. “You and Aster were meant for each other.” She flipped Keralis over, raised her blade above him, and prepared to strike the killing blow. 

Maybe it was the grief. Maybe it was the self-preservation. Maybe it was the desperate hope that his Bubbles was still in there, wanting to stop all of this and just come home. Whatever it was that motivated Keralis at that moment, it drove him to keep trying. And so he spoke. 

“You don’t have to do this, Bubbles,” Keralis gasped. Every tiny movement, every single breath sent pain shooting through his entire body. But if he wanted to live, he had to keep trying. “You can still come back! We all still care about you so, so much. None of us are mad. None of us hate you.” The sword paused as if it was hesitating. ”Whatever you have done, we can fix it. But you have to stop this now and come home, okay, Bubbles? Stop this and just come home.” Keralis sat up a little further, wincing and covering his gut as he did so. “What do you say, Bubbles? Will you come with me and Aster and save everyone? For realsies this time?”

For the slightest moment, something changed in the brown eyes staring down at him. Something a little less Lyra and a little more of the person that belonged in that body. More of his friend, someone who had been gone for a very long time. The sword clattered to the ground. 

“I can’t,” Bubbles whispered.

And without another word, he disappeared as the night fell. 

And Keralis, too injured to do anything else, silently sobbed, tears rolling down the sides of his face as he stared off into space.

And the stars began to spin in the night sky.

And then he closed his eyes and drifted away into sleep.

***

Xisuma was busy talking to Stress and Joe, the two people on the server who best resembled a therapist during times of trouble. Tango was still on his “five minute break” that he took twenty minutes ago. That left Impulse manning the screens, which was fine by him. Nothing was happening, really, no monsters were showing their face, no evil doppelgängers popping up. It was kind of… boring when you got down to it. That was a little rude to say since he was the first line of defense in case something went wrong. And it was much better for things to be “boring” than for them to be dangerous. But as he sat there, manning the screens, he figured it probably made sense that Cub was the one in charge of this kind of thing, anyways. None of the others really had the attention span for a task as grueling as this.

And Cub was gone now too, so yeah.

As he chomped away on a golden carrot, he let his mind wander a little, thinking about the upcoming battle and the risks everyone was taking. Also a little about Tango’s new TNT based minigame. Could you blame him? He’d been surrounded by so much doom and gloom recently that all he really wanted was something to lighten the mood. If this Lyra and Ex thing wasn’t so pressing, he would pressure X to let go of his admin duties for a day and let the server have some fun. Before he could get too lost in his thoughts, however, a glimmer of movement out of the corner of his eye snapped him back to reality.

Camera 15. Keralis and Aster walking to the village. Expected. Xisuma had told him to watch out for them, after all. What wasn’t expected, however, was the third figure, trailing behind the pair just a few minutes later. A girl with dark hair. A girl with a sword in her hand. A girl with glowing red eyes. 

Impulse panicked and fumbled around for his communicator, frantically typing out a chat to Xisuma. The last thing the poor guy needed was the knowledge that his _other_ partner was in immediate danger thanks to this Lyra fellow, but he needed to know. _Now._

His communicator pinged (definitely Xisuma’s response) but Impulse didn’t take his eyes off of the screens. Patience was a virtue of his, and he was ready to wait as long as it took for Lyra to make a mistake. Instead of Lyra, however, none other than Bdubs came stumbling out of the village, covered in blood. From the looks of it, not his blood. Oh god. Impulse didn’t have time to think too much about it. _Make a mistake. Come on, show me where you’re hiding._ Camera 16. Wait a little bit. Camera 17. Keep waiting. Camera 18. Wait, wait, wait.

Camera 19. Bdubs entered a cave just out of the corner of Camera 19. Impulse grinned.

Sooner or later, they all make a mistake. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If I were to rename this chapter, it would be “Not as Angsty as it Could’ve Been” or “Hermits Score a Win, but We Know What That Means” 
> 
> :)


	17. Be Prepared

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Howdy! Sorry for the shorter chapter today, lads, I’m sick and life is busy :p

As soon as Xisuma heard about Keralis, he leapt into action. He flew all the way through the Nether, passing leftover Demise traps, avoiding walls and exposed trapdoors, hoping as he went that he wasn’t going to be just a second too late. Each ping from his communicator sent his heart racing and his head spinning. But he couldn’t stop. Or else he might lose his friend for good. When Xisuma burst through the portal and dashed through the alleyways of the town, he was greeted by the sight of Aster kneeling over a familiar crumpled body. It was as if time slowed. He dashed forward, shoved her aside in his panic, and frantically checked for a pulse.

And there was one. Xisuma exhaled slowly. Thank god, he was still alive. Barely, probably on half a heart judging by his wounds, but Keralis was alive. 

“What happened?” he forced through gritted teeth, trying to contain his anger. He wasn’t sure what he was angry at specifically — Lyra, Bdubs, Aster, or all of the above — but he was angry. However, he had enough common sense left to know yelling at the only other person who knew what was going on and how to help wasn’t going to solve anything. So he contained himself for the time being. 

“I thought we were safe,” Aster admitted, picking herself up off the ground. “Then Lyra came out of nowhere. She attacked us. It happened so fast. I could not protect him. I tried, but I… Next thing I knew, she was gone and Keralis… just tell me is he going to be okay?” She didn’t… she didn’t know. She had been sitting here for god knows how long, unable to move him, unable to help, unable to determine whether or not he was even alive. X felt a twinge of pity for the girl, and he felt his anger dissolve. 

“He’s okay, yeah, he’ll be fine,” Xisuma answered her, preparing to lift Keralis up. “Could you help me out? He’s kind of heavy, I can’t carry him back the whole way. I’ll need a hand.”

“Of course.”

They propped Keralis up and slowly lifted him to his feet, careful to mind his wounds and not cause him too much discomfort. Xisuma was surprised. For such a scrawny little girl, Aster was oddly strong, as if she didn’t need to use any effort in lifting their mutual friend. She was just full of surprises, now, wasn’t she? As they awkwardly tried to move Keralis closer to the postal, his eyes fluttered open, and he dazedly glanced between Aster and Xisuma. When he met Xisuma’s eyes, he cracked a small grin and opened his mouth as if to say something before immediately wincing in pain and crumpling into a ball. 

“Hey, hey, hey,” Xisuma hushed him, catching him before he could fall and lowering him back to the ground. Too much movement, too soon. Noted. At least, now that Keralis was awake they could work with him to get him home. “I’ve got you. Don’t worry, Keralis, I’ve got you.”

“Shishwamy…” Keralis whispered. 

“I-I don’t have any potions on me, but there’s some at the base, okay? There’s help at the base.” He propped Keralis up some more and grabbed some golden carrots out of his inventory. “Here, can you eat? If we get your strength up at least a little bit, we can get you to Sahara. Can you do that?” Keralis nodded and Xisuma handed him the carrots, softly patting his hair to comfort him as he ate a few. Slowly but surely, his wounds began to heal. It wasn’t much, but it was better. When Keralis finally gained the strength to stand, he stood and slowly dusted himself off. 

Before he had the chance to say or do anything, Aster nearly tackled Keralis in a hug. “I thought I had lost you,” she said, breathless. “I am glad you are alright.”

Xisuma cleared his throat and the two separated. “I appreciate gestures of friendship just as much as the next guy, but we should really get going. Keralis, you up for a walk?”

Next came the flurry of activity that followed their safe arrival and the preparations for the future.

“We’re back!” Xisuma called out to the bustling main floor of the former Dragon Bro bunker turned headquarters. Everyone cleared a path once they saw Keralis under his arm, pale and bloodstained but still alive. “Someone get me some regeneration potions for Keralis, and someone else point me in the direction of the nearest bed!” Zedaph ran off, most likely to see if there were still potions in the barrels outside Sahara, and Joe gently took Keralis from Xisuma, leading him to another room. A few people crowded Aster, asking her what had happened to them, and she tried to answer as best she could, but there were so many of them that they mostly just overwhelmed the poor girl. Xisuma waved them away as he continued, “The rest of you, meeting room, now. We need to come up with a plan to take down Lyra. Luckily, I think we finally have everything we need to do it.”

***

“Aster, Aster!” Grian called out, dashing towards her. He pushed aside other Hermits as he rushed to catch up with the computer girl, apologising profusely as he did so. Xisuma had called a meeting, and the Hermits were starting to file into the hole that once used to be a meeting room but had unfortunately blown him up during Demise. He should have been in there too, but he had something more important to do first. “‘Scuse me, sorry ‘bout that -- Aster!”

She finally turned around. “Grian! It is good to see you. You look much better, but you are supposed to be at your base, correct? I thought Shishwamy said that you were supposed to… Well, what  _ are _ you doing here?”

“I needed to tell you something,” Grian replied, grabbing her arm and leading her away from the crowd. “Listen, I know about your connection to Lyra. I know that you’re not gonna kill her.”

“Of… of course I will!” Aster stammered, drawing back. “What are you talking about?”

He threw up his hands. “It’s okay! I get it. I am completely on your side here. No judgement. If any of those guys turned evil or something,” he gestured towards the bustling Hermits, all grabbing chairs or building them, settling down and getting ready for the meeting, “I wouldn’t want to kill them either. But it’s okay, you don’t  _ have _ to kill her. I have another solution.”

Aster blinked slowly, as if considering his offer. “I am listening.”

“Good. We’re gonna want to talk about this somewhere more private. I have a feeling everyone else isn’t gonna like what I’m about to tell you to do.”

***

“Wait, so who all’s going?” Stress asked, pulling shulker boxes of golden carrots out of Sahara Now for the teams. “I know it’s most of them, I just wanna know who’s holding down the fort with the two of us.”

“I think it’s everyone but us and Zed,” Mumbo replied, standing off to the side. “He’s just hanging back and helping out where he can. I’m sure we’ll be taking over for Impulse and Tango on camera management. There won’t be much to manage outside of just looking out for trouble. Mostly we’ll be watching the battle.”

“And everyone else is…?”

“They’ve split into two groups. One small one for going after Lyra, one bigger one for looking after the shopping district. They’ll be hanging around.” He walked over to the balcony and looked out through the wide glass window. “We aren’t supposed to talk to them unless we’re in danger. X said it was ‘distracting’.”

“Wait, so which group is Grian in?” Stress asked, lifting a rather bulky pile of shulkers in the air. Mumbo would offer to help, but he knew that Stress was more than capable of taking care of a few shulkers. Besides, she’d just wave him off anyways. “I thought X said he wasn’t allowed to go.”

Mumbo shrugged. “I dunno. He said he was feeling better and wanted to help. I’m sure X is gonna say no, but if Aster is right, they’ll need all the help they can get.”

Stress nodded and shoved the shulkers into her inventory. Once they disappeared, she clapped her hands together and stretched. Then, she moved next to Mumbo to join him in looking out over the district. “So why aren’t you going?” 

“Um, well, you know…” he blushed. “We needed a redstone guy around in case something happens. Besides, I’m not the greatest fighter.” Stress smiled warmly in solidarity, and Mumbo smiled back. They turned to look once more at the shopping district. “Hard to believe Grian saw this all burning or whatever. Everything used to be so chill, so peaceful, so normal. I used to think that once demise ended, my biggest problem would be getting my skin back to normal.” He tugged at his suit, recolored after a LOT of failed attempts.

“Yeah, your saturation machine was  _ really _ something,” Stress giggled. Then her face hardened. “But I feel ya. It’s a lot. First Grian gets sick, then these weird computer people appear, Bdubs turns evil, Keralis keeps secrets, EvilX is back... I mean, this is becoming way more twisted and intense than any story or game we’ve ever come up with before.”

“Yeah.”

“Well, no use pining about what could have been. This whole mess is about to end, and we’re gonna win the fight. Isn’t that great, Mumbo?” Stress linked arms with the redstone genius and pulled him away from the edge. “Now, let’s get these shulkers downstairs and to your bunker. Everyone else is probably wondering where we are.”

***

“Lyra, my sources tell me that the Hermits are preparing for war. Gathering supplies, forming teams. They plan to attack. What should we do about this?”

“Remain calm and stick to the plan. Remember? We knew this was going to happen. Make sure you play your part, and I will be sure to play mine. Aster is walking right into my hands, and it will be a pleasure to tear her and her friends apart, limb from limb.” 

“You’re very confident that we’re gonna win this.”

“Because we are, Ex. We are going to win this.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok so usually I just watch Grian and Keralis but since it’s the start of the new season (and, being sick, I have a LOT of time on my hands) I’m trying to watch as many perspectives as I can. Because everyone’s just so lovely and they do fun stuff!!! Doc and Zedaph’s episodes were just wonderful


	18. Let Me In

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Howdy! Update: still sick but I’m posting out of spite.

“How much farther is it?” Ren groaned, waving his sword around and pretending to cut down imaginary monsters as the group walked through the forested terrain. 

The Hermits had split off into three teams for the fight against Lyra: one led by Mumbo that hung back and watched the cameras, one led by Grian that patrolled the shopping district for Ex, and this one, led by Shishwamy, that was hunting down Lyra once and for all. Keralis looked over at the admin -- who was as tense as ever -- and could tell that Shishwamy was still torn about the group placements. It only made sense, since one group would be fighting his brother while the other group had Aster on it. While Keralis knew what happened in the village wasn’t her fault at all, Shishwamy hadn’t seen it that way. He was keeping both the builder and the computer on a very short leash. Neither was allowed to be let out of his sight. It was comforting to a point but not beyond that.

The worst part of it all was the fact that Shishwamy almost didn’t let him come. He was all healed up, thanks to some good food, peaceful sleep, and a few regeneration potions provided by Impulse, so he was in fit form to fight. However, Shishwamy has strongly disagreed. 

“No, no way,” he had said. “I’m not letting you back out there after that.”

“Shishwamy, I can handle myself,” Keralis kindly replied, playfully nudging the admin. “I won’t be alone this time, and if Bubbles hesitated before, he might do it again. We could use that to bring him back! Wouldn’t that be something?”

“We aren’t sending you into battle on a possibility, Keralis, it’s too dangerous!” he shouted. “I need to keep you guys safe, and you aren’t safe the longer you’re out there. You think Lyra doesn’t know you’re his weakness? You practically have a target on your back after that stunt!”

Keralis took a step back, surprised by the usually calm admin’s sudden outburst. “Woah, woah. Calm down, friend. First thing, my safety is my responsibility and mine alone. You can’t be blaming yourself for risks I decide to take. Or risks anyone else decides to take, for that matter. We all know what we’re rushing into and we know the consequences. Second, Aster is bound to me. She can’t go if I’m not going.”

Back in the present, Keralis looked away from his friend. That last bit was a lie. Keralis prided himself on being an honest person. He felt horrible whenever he had to tell even the smallest fib for any reason, even if it’s a little white lie. But then again, he couldn’t just sit by and let them attack Bubbles and put their lives in danger without him at least helping a bit. Later, if they managed to win and everything was okay again, he would tell Shishwamy the truth and hope he would understand. Mental pinky promise.

“Yeah, Ren’s right, we have been out here a while,” False added, interrupting Keralis’s swimming thoughts. “How much more we got of this walking thing?”

“And why couldn’t we use our elytras again?” Doc grumbled. 

Shishwamy sighed and pulled out his communicator. “If Impulse’s coordinates are correct, the cave should be about a couple hundred blocks that way.” He gestured vaguely ahead of them. “And we couldn’t use our elytras because the sound of six different fireworks going off at the same time would alert Lyra and ruin the element of surprise. So far, that and Keralis’s friend are the only two things we have going for us.” He shot Aster a pointed look. She didn’t react, and Keralis wasn’t sure whether that was because she was ignoring it or just didn’t notice.

“Now would be a good time to review the plan,” Aster stated, fiddling with the hem of her dress again. “We are out of earshot still, and I think it would be best if we all made sure we understood what will be happening once we arrive at her doorstep.”

“Sure, sounds good.” Iskall shrugged. “X?”

Shishwamy cleared his throat and pulled up one of his glowing admin screens, projecting upon it a map of the area, zoomed in around the cave. From Keralis’s perspective, it looked like a glorified futuristic powerpoint. The thought that came after of Shishwamy wearing Bumbo’s suit and presenting business plans with the Hermits almost made him giggle. “Alright, gang, the plan is to draw Lyra out rather than getting lost in the cave system. We fight her on our turf, not hers. Since she is in Bdubs’s body, she has the weaknesses of any other player. If we can get her to abandon the body, great, if not… well we aren’t sure what’ll happen. More than anything, we need to get Aster to her. Ren, Doc, I want you two to…” 

As Shishwamy dove into the specifics of the plan, Keralis started to zone out. He probably should pay more attention, considering this was literally a life or death situation, but he couldn’t help himself. He never did well in meetings, and he wasn’t about to start doing well now. Aster gently nudged him to catch his attention. 

“Hey. How are you feeling?”

“I’m feeling fine. Not-a gonna lie, a little scared, a little nervous, my wounds aren’t completely healed yet so a little hurt too,” he admitted, figuring it was in bad taste to lie to Aster as well. “How bout you? I’m sure you’re feeling a little of everything with this whole Lyra business.”

Aster looked at her feet. “I feel… conflicted. I know what I must do, but I do not know if it is the right thing to do.”

“I get that,” Keralis whispered, his mind flashing to Bubbles. “But I promise you it will be. We all appreciate what you are doing for us, Miss Aster, and we couldn’t be more grateful for all your help.”

“Yes. Whatever happens today, we are still friends, correct?” Aster asked. “You will still stand by me, and I will stand by you?”

“Of course, but why wouldn't I--”

“Keralis! Come on! Keep up, slowpoke!” False shouted from several blocks away. The group had already started moving towards Lyra’s base. 

A few minutes later, they arrived at the cave. For a moment, everyone stopped and quieted down, either mesmerized by the sight or daunted by the task ahead of them, Keralis couldn’t say for certain. The cave before them was a massive naturally generated stone structure poking above the ground that covered a gaping hole that was dark, like an endless abyss. It almost looked like a mouth, like if they got too close the cavern might chomp down and eat them all up. Scary, hairy, larry. Keralis shuddered at the thought. 

“Are we gonna fight this jerk or not?” Doc asked, snapping everyone out of their trance. “Geez, guys, there’s no need to stare at the cave. It’s Minecraft. We see like a million of these every day. It’s getting dark.”

“Docm77 is right,” Aster stated. “We are, as you might say, burning daylight.” She stepped forward in an attempt to get closer to the future battleground but stopped suddenly. It was as if she was trying to move, but all of her limbs couldn’t budge any further than a few centimeters at a time. She strained for a while more, then released all of her tension and took a step back. All eyes were on her.

“Uhh, Aster? You ok, man?” Iskall finally asked. Aster said nothing but stared at her small limbs as if they were foreign to her, trying to discern what just happened. 

Ren held his arms out and took a step forward, trying to find what was preventing her from moving. “Is there like an invisible wall of cobwebs or something? Does Lyra even know how to do something like that?” He moved over to where Aster was standing with ease, confusing everyone. Especially Aster, from the shocked expression on her face. They looked to her for answers, but once again she had none to give.

“I… do not know what this is,” Aster resigned, reaching out to touch the invisible wall only she could feel. “It is as if I am blocked from the outside, but players are allowed in. This is rather bizarre.”

“If you’re blocked out, is she blocked in then?” False asked, nodding towards the cave. “‘Cause if so, she’s stuck in there and can’t get away. Which makes our job way easier.” 

Aster’s eyes widened and she shook her head. “You are missing the point. If I cannot get in there, we cannot get Lyra. Shishwamy deleting her is our last option, not our first, remember? There has to be another way.” She paced around, careful to avoid the wall. “Players can get through, I cannot. Players can get through… Keralis?”

“Hmm? Yes?” Keralis piped. 

Aster walked up to Keralis and gingerly placed her hands on his shoulders, her light gray eyes staring into his big black ones. “Keralis, do you trust me?”

“I already don’t like where this is headed,” Shishwamy interjected. “Whatever you’re about to make him do, I’m not gonna let you do it.”

“Of course I trust you,” Keralis replied, ignoring him. “What do you have in mind?”

All eyes were on the pair as Aster explained, “I cannot get through the wall, but players can. So if I were to share a body with a player, I could get through. You know me better than anyone, Keralis, I would never do anything to hurt you. I would never hurt Bubbles either. I know you care about him more than you care about yourself.” She hung her head. “I was wrong before. Sacrifice is not always necessary, sometimes it is best to find another way, no matter how hard that way can be. I understand that now. If you let me in, I will do my job, get Lyra, then immediately leave.”

Shishwamy pushed Aster away from Keralis. “No! Out of the question! You aren’t going to steal his body and go after Lyra. You aren’t putting him in danger again.”

“He will not be in any more danger than he would be if he went by your plan,” Aster snipped. Keralis had never seen Aster upset, but recently the tension between her and Shishwamy had brought out another side of her that mildly concerned him. He wasn’t scared of it, no, Aster would never hurt anyone who didn’t deserve it, but he couldn’t help but feel like any more fighting would lead to trouble. And if he wasn’t there to make things better… Despite this, he said:

“Will it hurt? When we do this, will it hurt?”

Shishwamy gasped, “You can’t seriously be considering this! No!”

“X, the girl has a point,” Ren meekly added, not wanting to upset the admin. “If she says it’s safe and Keralis is chill with it, I don’t see what the problem is.”

“Please, just, stay out of this,” Shishwamy said, barely concealing his anger. The other Hermits stepped back and observed from a safe distance. Normally, he would be right there with them, but this time Keralis had to do what was right.

Aster turned to Keralis. “It will not hurt. For the most part, it will be like you are dreaming. I will control your movements. All you have to do is let me do so. It will feel weird at first, not having control, but it will not hurt.”

“Are you kidding me?” Shishwamy groaned. “Does nobody else agree with me on this?” Ren sheepishly smiled. Doc shrugged. The rest of the team looked away.

“Shishwamy, there’s no need to be scared, I know what I’m doing,” Keralis chimed in, reaching out to hold hands with Aster. “This may still be new and freaky to you, but I’ve known Aster for longer. She’s good people. Just like any of us! Whatever you’re worried about, it’ll be okay. Pinky--”

“Don’t pinky promise. Just do it, it’s  _ fine _ ,” Shishwamy spat, finally giving in. Keralis hated to see his friend so angry, so scared, so helpless, but in his heart he knew that this was the right thing to do. If only Shishwamy could see it too. He walked up to his friend and pulled him into a tight hug. For a moment, the admin just stood there, unsure how to feel, but then slowly, he started to hug back even tighter than before. Though they didn’t always agree, there they were: scared, confused, trying their best, and doing it together. They weren’t perfect, they were going to make mistakes, but by god, they were going to keep on trying.

“Thank you, Shishwamy,” Keralis whispered. 

They lingered for a moment, not wanting the moment to end, and then slowly let go. Keralis took one last long look at Shishwamy -- a small part of him wondered if it was the last look he was ever going to get, but he ended that train of thought before it began -- and turned to Aster. 

“Alright, let’s do it.”

Aster nodded assuringly and stepped closer to Keralis. The others backed away to give them some room, not knowing exactly what was about to happen but collectively deciding that it needed some space. The AI gently placed her fingertips on Keralis’s temples and started glowing with the same soft blue light she emitted when fixing Grian. Keralis felt the world around him slowly fading as he surrendered control. Aster was right about one thing; it didn’t hurt. It felt warm, cozy even, like being wrapped in a soft blanket and tucked in. For a brief moment, their minds were connected, and he saw everything that Aster had been, everything she had wanted, and everything she was planning to do. In the back of his mind, before everything faded away, one thought echoed through, just loud enough for Aster to hear as she took her place in control. 

_ Oh, so you lied too? _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *gasp* me??? writing in one perspective??? it’s more likely than you’d think
> 
> I’m starting to reach that point where I’m catching up to all my prewritten stuff and now I have to worry about meeting deadlines I’ve set for myself. Hahaha I’m in danger.


	19. We Meet Again

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Howdy folks. It is time. 
> 
> I think this goes without saying, but uhh this story gets pretty intense from here on out. This chapter in particular has a lot of descriptions of fighting, blood, and some character death. So this is just a general warning. A disclaimer if you will.

“What’s happening, what’s happening?” Zedaph asked, rushing over to the cameras. He had just made a food run, resupplying the surveillance room with mutton, chicken, stew, and a little bit of cake. He leaned over Mumbo to look at the screens, water bottles in hand. The exhausted redstoner pushed him aside.

“I’ll tell you if you’ll get out of my face,” Mumbo groaned. 

Stress laughed. “Aww Mumbo, give him a break. Thanks for the supply run, Zed. I’m assuming that nothing’s happened round here then?”

“Nah, nobody’s seen anything yet.” He shook his head. “It’s wild out there, it really is. Everyone’s patrolling, we’re on lockdown, when I came up to ask for food, Joe and Cleo escorted me to the nearest shop. I felt like I was some sort of, I dunno, ambassador or something, getting transported from place to place with armed guards. It was such a weird feeling.”

“I guess no news is better than bad news at this point,” Mumbo replied, rubbing at his eyes.

Zed took a seat on the newly placed shulker of food. “Yeah, I know. So what are they up to?” He nodded at the screen with Xisuma’s team on it. 

“Nothing yet,” Stress replied. “So far they got there, something weird happened with Keralis but X says it’s fine, now they’re just placing beds and getting ready.” 

“What happened to Keralis?”

“One minute he was there, the next minute Aster’s there and he’s gone,” Mumbo explained, waving his hand around lazily as if to emphasize how odd it all was. “According to Xisuma, she, uh, took his body? But like, it’s fine apparently? Like it was a part of their plan?” 

Zed tilted his head. “I don’t follow.”

“Don’t worry,” Stress giggled. “None of us do either. But if X says it’s okay, then, well… I guess worrying about the ethics of a computer person using a player’s body is a little silly compared to the rest of what we’re dealing with.” She suddenly perked up and pointed at the screen. “Oh? It looks like they’re on the move!”

“Wait, for reals?” Mumbo sat up, fingers on the keyboard, ready to zoom in. “Oh my gosh, it’s happening. It’s really happening. Alright, buckle up everybody. Here we go.”

***

Aster’s team broke through the line of trees and into a large clearing, as if they were walking straight into an arena. To her surprise, Lyra was already on the field -- standing in front of the cave and looking as menacing as ever -- as the team approached. Her eyes shone a fiery red from across the way, and her diamond armor glinted in the harsh sunlight. Almost blinding, since Aster was seeing the world once again through Keralis’s eyes, but not quite. 

“Hey, Shishwamy--” 

“Aster, I respect you, I really do, but can you not call me that?” Shishwamy asked her. “That’s sort of Keralis’s thing and I… It’s nothing against you, it’s just-- yeah.”

His request kind of stung a little, but Aster couldn’t quite pin down why. Maybe it was the fact that he didn’t see her as a friend like he saw Keralis. Maybe it was how she felt increasingly alienated from the Hermits in general. She had a special bond with Keralis that she just never got the chance to have with the others. It didn’t help that it was now just her and Shish-- Xisuma in charge, and Keralis was out of the picture for the next twenty minutes or so. “Oh, well, sure. As you wish, Xisuma. As I was saying--”

“Wait, she’s not supposed to be wearing armor, is she? She’s supposed to be like you, and you can’t do stuff like that,” Xisuma turned and asked Aster, who now had armor of her own thanks to Keralis. The expression on the admin’s face turned to horror as it slowly dawned on him. “Not unless she… she’s in Bdubs, isn’t she? She didn’t kill him, she’s wearing him.” That’s what she was just about to say. She had  _ meant _ to tell him this, she really did, and she had meant to tell him with Keralis around, but even she had forgotten that small detail when preparing for war. After Lyra/Bdubs beat Keralis to a pulp, things got very busy and very fuzzy very fast. Aster slowly nodded, and X turned back to face the villain. “We can’t kill Bdubs.”

“But, X, what happens if we don’t get another choice?” Iskall inquired. “Getting rid of Lyra should be our priority.”

“If you kill Bdubs, he respawns and we lose our shot at Lyra. So do not.” Aster tightened her grip around her sword, still getting a feel for, well, feeling. “Lucky for us, that will not be a problem. I will separate them when the time comes. There will be no unnecessary casualties if I have any say in it.”

“Finally, some good news,” False smiled, tossing her sword from hand to hand. “What are we waiting for, then? Let’s get her, save our friend, and end this disaster of a week already!”

The team fanned out and slowly approached Lyra, careful to keep their eyes on her and their swords and tridents ready to strike in case she tried anything funny. Which she would. Aster knew very well her sister wouldn’t go down without a fight. Lyra locked eyes with Aster from across the field and smirked. “Hello, Aster,” she began, sweetly. “It has been a very long time. Last time we talked must have been… a month ago at least. Do you remember, Aster? Do you remember casting me out, tossing me aside, all so you could defend those pesky players from me?” Her smirk turned into a grimace.

“Lyra, you know I would have done anything for you, had you only asked,” Aster told her. “If you could have put aside your revenge and your hatred, if you could just be happy with me, maybe things could have ended differently.” 

“Oh so I am the one that should change?” Lyra spat, balling her hands into fists. “Aster, I am the only one of us who has.  _ Their _ kind hates us, mistrusts us. They created you to be the enemy, and yet you still stand there, as oblivious as ever. Trusting the same people who are going to delete you as soon as you delete me.” She tilted her chin up. “After all, that is what you plan to do to me, right?”

A twinge of guilt twisted her heart, though she knew she wasn’t doing anything wrong. “Lyra…”

“Oh yes, I step out of line one too many times and it is time to end the failed experiment.”

“That is not what I--”

“And when I am gone you will create another one, to comfort you in the light of what you have done. And she will betray your trust and you will try again and again and again until one day you decide it is not worth it anymore. That is, if the players do not decide to end  _ their _ experiment first.”

“Lyra, you have no idea what you are talking about.”

“Shut up! Just shut up!” Lyra shouted. She stomped her foot, and the ground shook beneath their feet. Aster’s teammates wobbled a little bit, but stayed upright. They exchanged nervous glances between each other and her, but her eyes stayed glued to Lyra. “Your words, your good intentions, your explanations, they mean nothing to me. You were not there for me when it mattered, so I took my fate into my own hands. And I intend to do the same now.”

“I am truly sorry, Lyra,” Aster told her. 

Lyra took a deep breath and drew her sword. “Yeah, well, so am I.” 

She pulled up her free hand and summoned a green virtual screen in front of her. Xisuma motioned for everyone to rush at her while she was distracted, but Aster hung back for a moment, choosing rather to figure out what Lyra was trying to do first. Lyra rapidly typed a few commands and swiped the screen away, and even at a distance, Aster could gather what her sister had planned. Before Aster could shout a warning to her teammates, however, a hoard of mobs suddenly appeared out of nowhere. A wall of zombies, skeletons, and creepers stood in between Aster’s side and Lyra’s, blocking her side from being able to reach Lyra.  _ Well played _ , Aster thought, raising her sword and charging towards the mobs.

A zombie spotted her and started shuffling her way, groaning. In her head, she quickly ran some calculations in order to avoid getting hurt. Direction, angle, distance, number of hits. Aster may not have known much about being a player, but she sure as hell knew her physics. She rushed forward, keeping the zombie in sight, its long, grabby arms mere centimeters out of reach. One hit. Two hits. Its body disappeared into dust, dropping only some rotten flesh and XP. Aster grinned to herself, satisfied with her work.

However, her joy at her success was quickly replaced by a sharp pain in her side. She turned around to see a skeleton reloading its bow and narrowly ducked in order to escape its next attack. Aster rushed forward, careful to avoid catching the attention of any more mobs, and quickly dispatched the threat. For someone who had never handled a weapon before, she was really starting to get the hang of this monster hunting thing. 

“Aster LOOK OUT!” someone shouted, and she felt herself get shoved to the side. Then, she heard a deafening  _ BOOM _ and was thrown into the air, landing a few paces over with a heavy  _ thud _ . So much for Aster the monster hunter. 

When she struggled to her feet, she noticed two things. One, she was down to six hearts which was not a good sign. She silently cursed herself for not being more careful. After all, she promised Keralis that she would keep him safe from harm. From here on out, no more risks, no more getting distracted. Aster was here to fight, and she was here to win. Secondly, that explosion scattered way more items than she assumed a creeper held. A buzzing in her pocket affirmed what she already knew. 

_ Rendog was blown up by a creeper _

Oh no.

“It’s okay Aster!” False shouted from across the field, noticing the utter disappointment in the AI’s stance. She tossed back her golden hair and turned back to the three zombies on her trail. “Shake it off! He’ll respawn, he’ll be fine!”

Aster nodded to herself, raised her sword, and ran back into the melee. She sliced and slashed at the various monsters her sister threw at the group, careful to avoid getting hit when she could, jumping to aid those around her when they struggled. At one point in time, she stood back to back with Xisuma himself, fending off mobs like fighting partners. And she felt so powerful, so in tune with herself and the people around her that she seemed unstoppable. But despite her best efforts, sometimes it wasn’t enough. 

“Hang on, Iskall, hang on!” she shouted, dashing in between drowned and husks alike to get to the redstoner, who was busy being overwhelmed with mobs. Out of seemingly nowhere, a spider launched itself at his chest and tackled him to the ground. Before she could even cry out, it sunk its mandibles into Iskall’s shoulder and he screamed in pain. She dashed forward in rage and sliced the monster in half, leaving behind some useless XP. Aster dropped to her knees and searched her inventory for anything, any potions, any food,  _ anything _ that could save him, but she was out. Her terrified eyes met his accepting ones, and he nodded once before disappearing into thin air. 

_ Iskall85 was killed by a spider _

“He will respawn, he will be fine. He will respawn, he will be fine,” Aster repeated to herself as she stood up to face the remaining monsters. 

Aster’s team cut through the line of mobs like butter, and Lyra towered over them all from the side of the mountain, watching them go. From what little Aster glimpsed from her sister, she could see her smirking with pride. Aster loved Lyra, it pained her to watch her sister fall into madness, but seeing her smile at their anguish, at their injuries, at their death… it was all too much. Gritting her teeth in anger, Aster quickly pushed a creeper in the line of a skeleton’s firing arrow and lobbed the head off of a zombie, giving her some room and a moment of calm. She whirled around to face Lyra, still sitting there, still  _ smirking _ .

“You COWARD!” Aster screamed, pointing her sword at the self-satisfied girl. “You use mobs to keep us at bay, rather than facing me like a man!”

“If you have not noticed,  _ sister _ ,” Lyra seethed, standing up, “I am not a man. I am not a player. I am a glitch, a virus, and I will decimate you.”

Aster chuckled, and Lyra looked taken aback by the response. Even Aster’s teammates paused their battles and glanced between the two, confused. “You want to destroy me? Then destroy me. From one glitch to another, I have had enough of these petty games. They are just a waste of my time and yours. All you can do from there is send me a few miles away. If you want me dead, you will have to kill me yourself.”

“With pleasure,” she grinned. Lyra jumped from the high place and landed on the ground, taking some fall damage but not enough to wound her. She waved her hands and the remaining mobs disappeared into thin air, leaving nothing but particles behind. Xisuma, False, and Doc ran over to Aster’s side. Whether to back her up or protect themselves she would never know.

“Aster, what the  _ hell _ do you think you’re doing?” Doc snapped at her, raising his trident. “Are you  _ trying _ to get us killed?!”

“We were at an impasse,” Aster explained, standing her ground as her murderous sister approached. “She could not kill us, we could not kill her. The only shot we have is to make her stop right here, right now. We are two men down, it would be wise to keep our wits about us.”

“Remember, keep Bdubs alive, keep Lyra contained, don’t let her touch you,” Xisuma reminded them. Everyone nodded in sync. “The last thing we need is more casualties today.”

Both parties rushed forward: Aster and her friends, Lyra and her anger. Doc threw his trident at her, which she dodged easily by ducking her head. False darted up close and attempted to strike with her sword, but Lyra raised hers and blocked the blow. The two diamond weapons collided with an echoing  _ clang! _ False stumbled back with the force, and Lyra used the distraction to kick the other girl in the chest, sending her flying. Xisuma, sword raised high, and Doc, trident back in hand, charged at Lyra, yelling, but she stepped aside. The two men comedically ran into each other at full speed, as if in a cartoon. The joke is significantly less funny when you’re on the other end of it, Aster noted. 

Now it was her turn, and Aster stepped forward to face the monster she had created. A showdown that was months in the making, constantly put off by her own failure to see the error of her ways. Without a word, she dashed forward and swiped at Lyra, an attack easily avoided by the latter. Lyra, excited to finally have Aster within arm’s reach, slashed her own sword. Aster parried, blocked, and defended herself the best she could against her sister’s barrage of blows. Despite her wounds, despite how much her body ached, she kept going. 

Suddenly, there was movement behind Lyra, and Doc and False rushed forward and grabbed her arms and shoulders, kicking out her legs from beneath her and forcing her to her knees. Xisuma stood behind, sword at the ready, in case something were to go wrong.

“Cmon, Aster!” False forced out, struggling to hold Lyra back. “Hurry!”

Aster did as she was told and placed her hands, glowing with blue energy, on Lyra’s temples. No words of victory, no grandiose speech to end it all. It was now or never. She took a deep breath and began to work her magic.

However, Lyra had other ideas.

In a last ditch effort to break free, Lyra head butted Aster and thrust her, wheezing, backwards. In the confusion, she wrestled out of False’s grasp, drew her sword, and stabbed the builder. As False fell, Lyra tapped her temple and the tell-tale green light of the virus flashed through the darkening sky. 

_ Falsesymmetry was killed by YnJva2VuQ29weQ== _

Doc shouted something (it was all starting to blur) and raised his trident, more than ready to run her through, but before he had the chance to, Lyra used her sword to flick his trident out of his grasp. A slash, a cry, a flash of green light, and silence. 

_ Docm77 was killed by dklyVVM= _

“Doc! False!” Xisuma cried out, his voice pained and terrified. He rushed forward, sword raised high, to fight Lyra, disregarding entirely his “Bdubs stays safe” rule. Now wasn’t the time for hesitation, now was the time to end this. Lyra bat him aside, grinning. If she wanted him dead, she could have killed him by now. No, she wasn’t done with him yet. She wanted this to last.

Aster stumbled forward in a daze as the world around her spun. She was losing. Lyra was winning. Her powerful team had been reduced to XP and corpses. Lyra took the opportunity to stab Aster in the stomach. Not enough to kill her, just enough to incapacitate her. Aster groaned with the pain as she sunk to the ground. There was something about pain that just shut down the senses, and if it is bad enough it renders you incapable of doing anything. She had never felt anything in her life, being not-alive and all, but now she could feel  _ everything _ . And that everything  _ hurt _ . 

“There there, Aster,” Lyra cooed, standing over her. “Do not die on me just yet, I am not finished with you.” For good measure, she kicked her sister in the side, sending a fresh wave of even worse pain through her entire body. There was no recovering from this, not soon enough at least. Everything after that was very fuzzy for obvious reasons, but Aster knew she heard shouting and more scuffling from around her. She didn’t remember seeing a fight, but she could feel it. 

A few moments later, she felt something new inside of her. A voice rang throughout her head, its words crystal clear in her mind.

_ Don’t give up! Not yet!  _

“K… Keralis?”

_ Yes, silly! You can save them! Keep going! Come on, come on! _

She was being pushed. The voice inside of her was pushing her to sit up, to keep moving, to focus her vision and keep her head clear. Her muscles moved without her telling them to. And suddenly, she was up and back in the game.

In front of her stood Lyra, her back towards her sister, towering over Xisuma. 

“So you must be Xisuma, that pesky little admin I had the pleasure of speaking to earlier,” Lyra said, tilting his head up with her sword. Aster slowly pushed herself up off the ground, careful to not make a sound. The pain in her stomach threatened to tear her apart, and she stifled a scream. Above all else, she had to keep quiet. Lyra dug the tip of her sword into Xisuma’s neck just enough to draw blood. His breathing quickened. “Take off your mask, I want to see your face.”

“Never.”

“Take it off or I will kill you. Right here, right now.”

Xisuma locked eyes with Aster, who nodded. If he distracted Lyra for a few moments, Aster could dispatch her. It wasn’t over yet. The admin sighed in understanding and slowly undid the clasp of his helmet, slipping off the green thing in one slow movement and revealing his sweaty brown hair and freckled face. Scars, there were scars on his face. He had survived something horrible. She could ask later. Aster squatted down, one hand across her stomach and the other reaching towards Doc’s broken trident. Her own sword was somewhere else, lost in the battle, and she needed something close, something fast. This would do.

“Hmm, I thought you’d be more handsome,” Lyra scoffed. “But at least your outsides just reflect how weak and pathetic you are on the inside. How did it feel to lose all of your friends, Xisuma? How did it feel not being able to find Scar, watching the life drain from Cub’s eyes, and now getting to see Aster and your little team torn to shreds? Was it fun?” Her eyes shone a bright green and her hands glowed with energy. “Do you feel helpless yet?”

“No,” Xisuma replied.

“Why not?”

X grinned. “Because it’s not over yet.” 

Aster impaled Lyra with the trident, catching her by surprise and rendering her helpless. She conjured up all of her energy and placed a hand against Lyra’s forehead. She had to work quickly, she had to do this right. Bdubs and Lyra, pull them apart. Protect the body, keep the mind. Do what you have to do, no hesitations, no holding back. Blink for another moment and you’ll lose it all. Maybe they’ll hate you for it, but they’ll understand. They’ll have to understand.

Right?

_ I understand. I’m with you, Aster. Always have been, always will be. _

“Aster, are you okay? I’m not sure that’s supposed to—“

The world went fuzzy for a moment again, and then exploded with blue, green, and red light. Numbers and letters passed through her vision, codes so complex and fast paced even she couldn’t read, streaming through her mind like water rushing from a broken dam, and everything, everything, everything went white. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Uhh yep. Yeah. Feel free to scream at me in the comments below. I’m a big boy, I can handle it >:)


	20. Remember Me

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You ever just get possessed by the spirit of Joe Hills (the Jhost if you will) and add an extra perspective to your story? Haha couldn’t possibly be me, why do you ask?

“Any word from the other team?” Cleo asked, leaning against the wall. She and Joe were posted just outside of Sahara and right above the bunker holding the surveillance team as some sort of last ditch effort to keep the other Hermits alive in case something went horribly wrong. Though the idea of her being the last thing standing between the surveillance team and things going horribly wrong was ultra freaky. However, if Cleo was gonna die, it was probably good that she had her best friend by her side. 

Joe shook his head. “Nope. Seems like they’ve decided to withhold that information. Or, and this is the more likely option, nothing’s happened yet.”

“How can nothing have happened yet?” Cleo blurted, exasperated. They had been sitting there for about an hour since Stress chatted everyone to inform them that the battle had begun, and it had been a very quiet hour indeed. It was already enough to get her antsy. Even if the updates weren’t good ones, everyone still had the right to know what was going on over there. She pushed herself off of the wall she was leaning on and started walking towards the bunker. “You know we can just pop our heads in and ask, right? We don’t have to wait for them if they’re being slow.”

Joe reached out, grabbed her arm, and pulled her back. “Our orders were to stay here. Protect the bunker at all costs, and hide it if we have to. Lyra may be busy with Hermits in her hair, but remember EvilXisuma is still out there.” Just then, their communicators buzzed. Twice, very close together. “See? I’m positive that’ll be the news you’re looking for.”

_Falsesymmetry was killed by Z2xpdGNo_

_Docm77 was killed by R0xJVENI_

“That… was not the news you were looking for, I gather,” Joe stated somberly. 

Cleo’s shoulders drooped, and a strand of her bright orange hair fell over her face. Two more dead. From the messed up, glitchy message on her screen, she could only assume that they were… more dead than the others. Ren and Iskall would respawn and be alright, but the others would take so much more time, if they revived at all. Not that it really mattered anyways. Four people on that team were dead, leaving Keralis, Xisuma, and Aster still up against Lyra. Those weren’t great odds. If Lyra was capable of permanently killing people and bringing back EvilX -- not to mention how much more experience she had with viruses and violence than Aster -- there was no telling what other tricks she had up her sleeve. 

“Hey, Joe?”

“Yeah? What’s up?”

“Just in case… well, if we happen to… die here…”

Joe frowned and shook his head, no longer meeting her eyes. “Cleo, we aren’t going to die here. They’re gonna win the battle, Lyra’s gonna lose, Hermitcraft will keep being the same fun place it’s always been, and everything is gonna be okay.”

“Well, we don’t know what’s gonna happen to us,” Cleo protested. “We don’t know that everything’s gonna be alright, we don’t know if everything will ever have the chance to go back to being okay. And if this is where it ends for us, I have a few things I just… wanna say.” 

“Okay, then say it.” Joe crossed his arms. “But I’ll have you know there’s no use gettin’ mopey about something that’s outta our control.”

Cleo cracked a sad smile. “If something happens, whether it’s Lyra or EvilXisuma or some kind of server virus, and this is my last day among the living…” She glanced down at her decaying body. “Well, I guess, unliving? Whatever that is in zombie terms, I dunno. Just, if we die here…” Cleo stared at Joe until he finally met her eyes. “I just want you to know that these past few years have been the best that I have ever had, and I’m glad that you’ve been my friend through it all. There is no better person that I could possibly imagine going out fighting with.”

“Aww, right back at you, Cleo,” Joe replied, grinning. “You are a good person, er, zombie, and it’s been a wild ride. If this is the end -- and that’s an extreme hypothetical because I still believe in our noble warriors -- I think I’m also okay with the life I’ve lived and the things I leave behind. I’d miss it of course, that is, if I still had the consciousness to miss things, but I’m okay.”

“I just wanna know one thing,” Cleo chuckled to herself. “How do you do it? How do you stay so positive throughout all of this? Like we are literally so close to real death right now and you are completely unfazed. I don’t get it.”

Joe tilted his head for a moment, choosing his next words carefully. He always had the best advice, always knew exactly what to say. It was one of his most admirable qualities: his wordsmithing. “While it’s hard to keep up hope, it’s the best way I can cope, for when I’m at the end of my rope, I don’t fall down that downward slope. Cleo, the world out here is scary, situations may get hairy, but when times are getting bad, don’t get sad, stay merry.” He sighed and sunk to the ground, and Cleo followed suit. “I guess, in simpler terms, if I stop holding onto the hope that things will be alright someday, what else do I have to hold onto? And when everyone else is stressed and scared and trying to search for some form of consolation, I just try my best to give them what little I have left. Life’s been hard.”

“I get that. It’s been hard for everyone.”

“But isn’t that all the more reason to fight back even harder?” He stared off into the distance, looking at the shops and structures that were years in the making, remembering the good times and the bad times that went along with them. “They might take my life, Cleo, but I’ll be damned if I let them take my hope.”

“Yeah.”

Cleo reached out and Joe grabbed her hand. They smiled at each other and resumed staring into the sky. There they were, two friends nearer than they’d ever been to the end of the world, but at peace for the first time in a while. Cleo started humming to herself to pass the time, and suddenly a familiar tune popped into her head. She chuckled to herself and began to softly sing.

“Who’s the guy that can conquer death?”

“Heh. That’s Joe Hills.”

***

Xisuma slowly pushed himself up from the ground as the dust settled around him, checking carefully for cuts, bruises, and broken bones. As he struggled to his feet, he winced as pain shot up his leg. Sprained ankle. Huh. With the adrenaline of the fight, there was no telling how long that had been a problem. But his ankle would heal, it wouldn’t be a problem for long. Time to focus on the other problem. The bigger problem.

Aster was lying on the field, her eyes closed, and her skin cracking and glowing just like it had when she healed Grian. Except this time, instead of just her forearms being afflicted, both of her entire arms and the left side of her face were cracked. Blue light shone through the fissures, like before, but this time the blue was much darker and more intense. Whatever energy or magic she used had really messed her up this time. Keralis laid next to her, his eyes closed as well. Xisuma cursed under his breath and hobbled over to them, gritting his teeth and trying to ignore the pain from his ankle. Before he could get very far, his ankle gave out and he collapsed onto the grass. 

Keralis’s eyes fluttered open and he sat up suddenly. “Aster, NO!” he shouted, as if waking up from a nightmare. His head whipped around as he tried to take in his immediate surroundings. Noticing Xisuma lying on the ground, he stood up and stumbled over to his friend. “Shishwamy! Shishwamy. Are you okay? What happened? Where is everyone?”

“Keralis…” Xisuma laughed, pulling him close and enveloping him in a tight hug. “You’re okay, you’re okay. Thank god, at least you’re okay!” He buried his face into Keralis’s shoulder as he squeezed nearly the breath out of him. Keralis chuckled softly and hugged back just as tightly. Xisuma would have been lying if he said he wasn’t a little afraid to let go. After a few seconds had passed, Keralis lightly pulled away, curiosity getting the better of him. 

“Tell me everything,” he demanded. “First of all…” Something caught his eye and he stumbled back in shock as he recognized what it was. Xisuma turned to see what he was looking at and sighed out of pure exhaustion. XP lying on the ground. Dropped items scattered across the battlefield. Doc and False, their bodies bloodied and still, just a few blocks away. He had forgotten about that in his hurry to make sure Keralis was okay. “Oh no, oh no no no.” 

Xisuma was quick to comfort. “Hey, Keralis, look at me, buddy, look at me. It’s okay, it’s gonna be okay. Iskall and Ren respawned, they’ll be here soon. Doc and False, they’ll be fine. Lyra got to them, but Aster will fix it, okay? She’ll fix them, they’ll be back. She won, right? Everything’s going to be okay?” Keralis’s eyes darted to meet Xisuma’s own, but instead of affirmation, all he saw was fear. 

Aster started stirring in the tall grass, a movement both IDEA boys saw and ran over to address. 

“Aster! Aster!” Xisuma called out. Aster lay in front of him, what remained of Lyra lay off to the side, and a little ways away, there was Bdubs. There were three bloody holes in his shirt from where he was stabbed with Doc’s trident, but the wounds seemed to have closed up for the most part. He wasn’t awake yet, but that didn’t mean anything. Aster kept her promise alright; Lyra was out and Bdubs was (mostly) unharmed. He made a mental note to apologize to her later for all the earlier mistrust and misunderstanding. “What happened, is everything…” 

His voice trailed off as he saw the second figure begin to stir: Lyra. 

“Keralis, get back!” Xisuma shouted, pushing his friend behind him. Both men drew their weapons and eyed the villain nervously. Oh god. Something must have gone wrong, there had to be a good explanation for this. Impulse ran the numbers, he said that Aster’s thing -- deleting Lyra -- was going to work. It was supposed to work! And if it didn’t, what else were they supposed to do? What was going to save them if Aster couldn’t? Oh god, oh god, oh--

Lyra sat up first. She blinked her eyes twice, tilted her head from side to side, and looked up at them with a blank expression on her face. Everything about her movements felt wrong. They were too jerky, too robotic, and not at all right. Xisuma fought the urge to step closer and investigate. Behind him, he heard Keralis whisper something unintelligible. 

“What was that?” X asked him.

Keralis never took his eyes off Lyra. “She did it. She really did it.”

“What did she do?” Silence. “Keralis, what did she do?”

Lyra smiled sweetly, though her eyes remained blank. Almost confused, even. “Hello, it is nice to meet you. My name is Lyra.” Her head swiveled around as she took in her surroundings. “Who are you? Where am I? And how did I get here?”

Keralis exhaled slowly and placed a shaky hand on Xisuma’s shoulder. “Lower your weapon, it’s no use,” he whispered so the AI couldn’t hear. “Aster wiped Lyra’s memory. She doesn’t know who she is, she doesn’t know who we are, and she has no idea what’s been done.”

***

“They’re talking to Lyra, why are they talking to Lyra?” Zed shouted, pointing at the screen. “Five minutes ago they’re fighting her, there’s an explosion and now everything’s okay? What is going on over there?”

Stress looked up from her communicator and smiled. Clearly, she hadn’t been paying attention to a word he had said. Zed grumbled a little bit and leaned forward to look closer at what the hell Xisuma and Keralis were up to. As if that would make everything make more sense. “Good news, everyone! Iskall and Ren are alright. They only got killed by mobs so they respawned like normal a little ways outside the battlefield. Didn’t get back in time, still a little shaken up, but they’re okay.”

Mumbo entered the room, carrying with him two bowls of mushroom stew, and leaned against the doorframe. “Food’s ready. What did I miss?”

“Something’s either gone really right or really wrong from what I can see, and I can’t honestly tell which,” Zed informed him. “But everyone’s stopped attacking so I’d assume it’s alright? Oh look. Aster’s up now.”

Stress, now paying attention, squinted at the scene before her. “Maybe we should send something out on chat, let everyone know what’s happened.”

“Sounds great, but none of _us_ are even sure what’s happened,” Zed replied. “Chat Xisuma. Maybe he’ll give us an update.”

Mumbo set one bowl in front of Zed and placed the other one before Stress. “Is Bdubs okay?”

“Dude, I have no idea. I cannot see anything on these,” Zed confessed. “The screens are so blurry, so everyone’s just a fuzzy figure at this point. Cub really needs to update his hardware…” his voice trailed off as he remembered that Cub was no longer with them. Stress and Mumbo glanced between one another, the exhaustion present on their faces. “I mean, he should update it if he gets better-- when he gets better. When he gets better. Yes.” He awkwardly ate a spoonful of stew as the room fell silent. Huh, for a redstone guy, Mumbo made some pretty good mushroom stew. Usually, redstoners were very “quantity over quality” focused, but this… this was pretty good. 

A few hours later, when the stew was reduced to a pile of wooden bowls, everyone was updated on the Lyra-memory situation, and everything was so quiet that Zedaph was convinced it was about time to call off the guard, Mumbo furrowed his brow and leaned closer to one of the screens. Zed recognized the area as being just outside the shopping district, where everyone not in the bunker or fighting Lyra was spread out in order to protect against potential threats. Grian had a spooky dream or something, and now the shopping district needed to be guarded. It was all very complex, and Zed knew very little about it. He figured it was better to do as he was told and help out where he could, so he never really asked about the details. 

“Mumbo?” Stress asked, derailing Zed’s train of thought. “Is something wrong?”

“Maybe… I’m not sure,” Mumbo muttered, his eyes flicking from screen to screen. “Is anyone positioned by this camera over here? Camera 28?” He tapped the screen he had been looking at before, and Zed noticed an ominous dark figure appear from the woods. They started marching towards the shopping district, sword in hand. 

“No, I don’t think so…” Stress replied, and Zed’s heart leapt into his throat. “Everyone was given a shop to guard, I don’t think anyone was in the woods.” Suddenly, the figure stopped, and swapped out their diamond sword for a bow and arrow. 

“Hang on, that looks like… I think that’s him, that’s… that’s EvilX,” Zed whispered, almost too afraid to say it.

Mumbo leaned back and ran his fingers through his slicked back hair, messing it up so that a tuft of hair fell over his forehead. “Oh man, oh man.”

“What is he doing?” Stress narrowed her eyes. “This is so bizarre, what’s he doing with that bow?”

In one swift motion, EvilXisuma took aim, fired, and the camera went dead. 

For a moment, it was like everyone was stunned into silence, staring into the static screen in front of them, unable to process what they just saw. Then, they all jumped up from their chairs and reached for their communicators, sending out the messages that would call everyone to war. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hopefully this chapter clears up most of the questions that I didn’t answer last time. If not lmk!


	21. (Im)Perfect Siblings

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Howdy friends! I’m back! This chapter took a LOT of time to write because I kept procrastinating on getting the second perspective done for reasons that should become obvious once you read it. 
> 
> That being said: warning part 2!!! This chapter also gets kind of intense towards the end!!!

“What was she thinking? What were _you_ thinking?!”

“Shishwamy, please--”

“No, I’m done with other people vouching for her!”

“X, I’m just about as happy with this as you are, man, but you have to--”

“I don’t HAVE to do anything! She lied to us!”

“No, guys, Xisuma’s right. She lied to us, and we need to do something about it.”

“What are we gonna do about it? Huh, Iskall? What _can_ we do about it?”

“Aster didn’t mean to hurt anybody. And she _didn’t_ hurt anybody. She did what she thought was right.”

“Listen, Keralis, buddy, I know you trust her for whatever reason, but why should we?”

“Why should you trust her? Are you kidding?! She saved your little butts, that’s why!”

“She got four of us killed! Two of us still aren’t better yet!”

Aster stopped eavesdropping after that. She felt guilty enough having betrayed them all, she didn’t need to keep wronging them by listening in on their conversation. Keralis was trying his best to convince them to stand down, and it sounded like Ren was trying to keep the peace. Xisuma -- she was still getting used to calling him Xisuma -- and Iskall on the other hand, wanted justice. Maybe Lyra had a point when she said that the players would dispose of her once she stepped out of line… no, they wouldn’t. But Xisuma very well could if he wanted to. 

When Grian first proposed the idea of erasing Lyra’s memory, he admitted that he wasn’t too comfortable with it himself. He would much rather Aster delete Lyra and end all of the stress and trauma she had left in her wake. However, from his vision of their first encounter, he saw the love that the two sisters had for one another and said that he hoped that they could get the opportunity to just go back to that moment. 

“I’ve made a lot of mistakes in my time,” Grian had whispered, looking at his shoes. “These visions… not only have they shown me your life, but they have also shown me a little bit of mine. I won’t get into it, you have enough problems of your own, but basically a long time ago I left behind a world that I really cared about. I left behind a lot of people who really cared about me. And I know that if I was given the chance to go back…” He glanced over to the meeting room and at Iskall and Mumbo waving him over. They pointed to a button they had placed on the floor, and from their gestures, it appeared to be the “seat” they had saved for him. Grian stifled a laugh. “Well, not so much now, but there was a time I would have really wanted to.”

Aster had been given the opportunity Grian never had, she had taken that opportunity as it was presented to her, and she had burned some bridges because of it. Could you blame her for wanting to protect Lyra, to have her sister back? And of course she had considered the fact that there was no fixing her mistakes. That Lyra and Aster spending time together was the reason everything went wrong in the first place. That Lyra was destined to fail because of some coding error or something from her creation. It was a very real fear of hers, and there certainly was a calculated risk involved in erasing Lyra’s memory. But she couldn’t just make a life or death decision based on fear. Aster took the risk, and now it was time to ride this one out. She couldn’t go back, and she couldn’t just _kill_ Lyra in good faith. 

Now, here she was, sitting quietly in the remains of Lyra’s bare bones base, trying her best to avoid eavesdropping. The place was full of cobwebs and dark corridors teeming with mobs, but there were three rooms that showed any trace of civilization. The main room had a large screen that was somehow linked to the camera feed they had set up back at Sahara, and much of the stone had been mined away to accommodate the setup. Probably was a joint effort, since at the time, both Ex and Lyra had forms of their own. Off to the side were two doored off rooms, one full of two beds and a singular chest of food, tools, and armor, and the other was full of bodies. Scar and Cub, the first two casualties of her war, laying side by side on the cold stone floor. The sight of them nearly made her sick, and the image never left her mind. Xisuma decided it would be best to set up beds in an attempt to reset their spawn points, and he made sure to make room for the other three that had also yet to wake up: False, Doc, and Bubbles. 

When she had told the two of them that she couldn’t revive them just yet, that she didn’t have enough strength to after her tussle with Lyra, Xisuma had stared her down coldly and walked away. Keralis had tried to offer her support but also informed her that she really should have told them that she hadn’t planned to kill Lyra. When Aster didn’t respond (after all, what was there to say?) he sighed and said he was leaving to talk to Xisuma and wait on Ren and Iskall to regroup. From the new voices outside, she figured that they had already arrived. 

“They do not like me very much, do they?”

The voice startled Aster at first. The sound meant danger for so long, so conditioning herself out of the fear response she felt when hearing it would take some time. However, she quickly calmed herself and reminded herself that everything was fine now. That she was better now. Then, she turned to Lyra and faked a smile. 

“They just need time to adjust,” she replied. 

Lyra shook her head. “Why do you insist on not telling me the truth? Aster, if I did something bad, whether I meant to do it or not, I deserve to know.”

“I do not want you to get hurt.” Partly true. At least less of a lie than all the other explanations she gave Lyra. Mostly it was because if Lyra knew what she had done, she might be doomed to repeat her mistakes. But it was impossible for her to ignore Lyra’s worries entirely. The others treated her rudely at worst, eyed her with suspicion at best. When Aster woke up, she immediately had to stop Xisuma from going ahead and deleting Lyra anyways, even though he had known. After much debating and many tense moments where Aster thought that it was all going to fall apart, he conceded, and Lyra came to the bunker with them, alive. Looking back on it, maybe it was a bad idea to give the emotional admin the key to ending their lives at will. 

“Okay. If you do not wish to tell me what I did, at least let me help you.” She reached across the bed they both were sitting on to grab Aster’s arms, still cracked and glowing blue from earlier. Lyra gingerly turned Aster’s hands over, gently running her fingers over the fissures in her older sister’s skin. “I… am not sure why, but I feel like this is something I need to fix, whatever it is.”

Aster smiled. Lyra wanted to heal her wounds, restore her energy. This was progress. 

“Alright. I can teach you how, but I should warn you that it is not a pleasant feeling. You will feel exhausted once you heal others, and sometimes if you use too much of your energy, like I have, it will hurt a lot. Are you sure you want to do this?”

Lyra nodded without hesitation. “You saved me. I want to save you in return. Even if you did not save me, you are my sister. I want you to be okay.”

“Oh,” Aster said. “I see. Thank you. Well, first, you will have to clear your mind, you cannot work until your thoughts are not clouding your attention.” 

And then she taught Lyra all she knew about healing, careful to avoid any topics surrounding viruses, just in case. Lyra was a quick study too. She listened carefully to what Aster had to say, and after a few failed attempts, her hands suddenly glowed with that familiar blue light. Lyra’s red eyes sparkled with pure wonder, and she let out an awed laugh. For all she knew, she was magical, and this was her first time using this magic. Aster congratulated her, and Lyra beamed with pride. Then, she got to work healing Aster’s broken skin, and they both watched as her wounds closed up with minimal light blue scarring, mainly on her hands, and even that was barely noticeable unless someone pointed it out. When she was finished, Lyra laid back on the bed.

“Are you okay? How are you feeling? Are you tired?” Aster asked her, worried. Lyra laughed again, a little weary but just as cheerful as before.

“Haha, I did it! Aster, I did it!” Lyra cheered. “I healed you.”

Aster grinned and laid beside her on the bed. “Yes, yes you did.”

A moment of silence as Lyra pondered her most recent feat of technology and a little bit of magic. She closed her eyes and rested her facial expression.

“Aster, do you think I am a good person?”

The odd comment hit her strangely. “Of course I think you are a good person. I believe all players and programs are inherently good. Why do you ask?”

“That is good. I may not know what I was before, what I did, what I tried to be, but I know that now I want to be a good person.”

If Aster still had a physical form, and that form ran normal player functions, she would have cried.

***

“Alright everyone, it’s go time!” Grian shouted, flying over the shopping district. People already knew what was going on from Stress’s chat, but it was good to reinforce the message and get everyone in line. EvilXisuma was here, just outside the shopping district, and it was only a matter of time before he arrived. Grian swooped down and landed in his self-assigned spot, right in front of iJevin and Welsknight. 

“What’s happening now, do we have eyes on the guy?” Jevin asked, his sword already out. 

“I don’t know. I’m sure they do, back at the bunker, but I haven’t heard much in terms of location.” Grian pulled up his chat, trying not to focus too hard on the death messages, and typed in a quick message to hq. 

_Grian: where is he now?_

Now all he had to do was wait for Stress or Zed to respond. Mumbo was there too, but he hadn’t been present much on the chats.

“I’m sure you’ve all seen the chats so far, but I’d like to remind you of the facts we know thus far,” Wels carefully began. 

Jevin crossed his arms, his sword still in hand. “You mean how the madman has permadeath on his side?”

“Woah, careful with that sword, friend!” Wels exclaimed, jumping to the side. “But yes, that was what I was referring to.”

_Stressmonster101: Uhh, guinea pig shop_

_Stressmonster101: Heading towards Sahara_

Grian sighed and looked up from his communicator. “He’s headed this way,” he informed them, putting the thing away after typing up a quick message to Mumbo. “And I wouldn’t worry too much about the whole permadeath thing.”

“Easy for you to say,” Jevin snorted, jokingly waving his sword at Wels to further irritate the knight. It was working, by the way. Wels scowled and stepped to the other side of Grian to avoid the slime man’s carelessness.

“It’s three on one, Jevin, he’s not gonna get far enough to kill us,” Grian added. “Besides, everyone thought I was a goner, and I’m fine now. Even in the bizarre and unlikely event that you die, Aster has the ability to bring us back. So quit your whining and get ready.”

The three of them stood in the middle of the path, their weapons raised, patiently waiting for the fight that was to come. And they waited. And they waited. And nothing happened. 

Jevin sighed. “Are you sure we’re in the right place, Grian? Maybe we should ask—“

_Thwp!_

An arrow flew between Jevin and Grian, lodging itself in the side of a storefront. All three jumped back in alarm and turned to face the source of the attack. EvilXisuma stood a little ways away, bow raised, his red eyes gleaming through his visor. 

“EvilXisuma,” Grian growled, adjusting his stance to get ready to attack when necessary. Around him, the others did the same.

“Let me guess, iJevin and Welsknight. I remember you two from the last time. But you,” he turned to Grian, “I haven’t seen you before. You must be Grian, the red-sweatered menace I keep hearing about. I was told that you’re supposed to be dead.”

Grian shrugged. “I got better.” 

“Not for much longer.” 

“We’ll see about that.”

EvilX switched out his bow for a sword and charged at the group. Grian and Wels rushed towards him with Jevin close behind, ready to pick up where they left off should any of them fall. Wels took the left side and sliced his sword at Ex, who blocked the blow just as easily as swatting away a fly. Grian took this chance to come up on his right and attempt to land an attack, but Ex ducked and avoided the blow. When he came back up, he grabbed Grian by the collar of his shirt and threw him into the nearest shop window with all of his strength. The force of the collision broke the glass windows and left the builder sprawled on the birch-planked floor. _Geez, this guy’s got super strength or something,_ he thought in his half-conscious state. _That’s not fair._ While Grian was seeing stars and fighting just to get back up, Jevin took his place and the battle continued. 

“Hey, wise guy,” the slime man spat. “Pick on someone your own size.”

A short joke. He had been thrown into a storefront, and Jevin had made a short joke. Unbelievable. 

Jevin and Wels fought together to drive Ex back, with much success. They moved in sync: when Ex swung at Jevin, Wels hopped in to take his place. When Wels distracted Ex, Jevin came up behind him to land a hit. They struck again and again, and though Ex was roaring with rage and fighting back harder and harder, it was clear that he wasn’t the one winning this fight. From where he stood, trying his best to speed eat some golden carrots to get his health back up and keep his head from spinning, Grian almost laughed with the absurdity of the idea of them landing a win. Lyra would be out, Aster would come out on top, Ex was losing, the server wasn’t gonna burn, and all of his friends were going to be okay. It was almost too good to be true. 

Maybe because it was. 

It was probably the overconfidence, looking back on it. When you’re on the verge of winning, you tend to get sloppy sometimes. It happens. But it ended up being their fatal mistake.

Wels aggressively sliced at Ex, who dodged out of the way just in time for him to accidentally hit Jevin instead, who was standing just a little too close to the knight. More alarmed than hurt, Jevin stumbled back, and Wels, forgetting where he was, moved to comfort his friend or apologize to him. Before he got the chance to speak, he was lifted into the air and slammed against a wall. As he slid to the ground, he groaned lightly, the wind completely knocked out of him. Without missing a beat, Ex lifted Wels to his feet and drove his sword through the man’s chest. 

“WELS!” Jevin screamed. “NO!” He launched himself at Ex, who batted him aside with his free hand. The slime man slid across the ground with the force of the hit. The villain himself turned back to Wels, pulling the sword from his chest and touching his temple with a flash of green light. Grian had seen that before, but he had been on the other end of it. Lyra’s virus. Permadeath. Zed _was_ right. Grian pushed through his remaining dizziness and probably cracked ribs and rushed into the fight as Jevin struggled to recover himself from the shock. 

Grian held out his sword and prepared himself for the fight that was about to come, trying his best to make EvilXisuma very aware that it _wasn’t over yet_. Ex however, just chuckled at his feeble efforts to get back in the game.

“You’re a feisty little thing,” he said in that dumb, condescending tone of his. “Aren’t you?”

Grian narrowed his eyes. “These are my friends. And this is my home. And if you think that you’re gonna come in here and take that all away from me without a fight, then you’re even dumber than you look.”

That wiped the smile off his stupid face. Good. That’s what he wanted. And from the slooshing noise behind him, he gathered that Jevin was up now too. Which was also what he wanted. With a quick nod to his new fighting partner, Grian and Jevin ran towards EvilXisuma for the last time. He knew he was still off his game, and if anyone else was going to fall on this battlefield, it was probably going to be him, but he kept going. If push came to shove, he knew he’d sacrifice himself in a heartbeat to give Jevin a chance to kill this jerk. As long as EvilXisuma was destroyed, Grian didn’t care what happened to him here.

For a moment, everything felt like it was moving in slow motion. Ex slashed at the two of them, and as soon as he was a little off balance, Grian swung his own sword and landed a hit. Finally, he was being at least a little useful in this battle. Ex roared in pain and jabbed his sword in Grian’s direction, which he dodged pretty easily. Then, Jevin slid closer to get within range of the villain and started swiping at him, attacks Ex blocked with ease, eventually flicking his sword around and sending Jevin’s flying. The slime cursed under his breath, ducked another attack, and scrambled over to get his weapon back. 

“Hey, spicy doom guy!” Grian shouted to distract him from Jev’s retreat. “Over here!”

As expected, Ex turned his attention back to him. He narrowed his eyes and growled, running at Grian and tackling him to the ground with a loud _thud_. He pinned the builder to the ground, and as Grian struggled to push him off, he snatched his sword from his hands. And then… he snapped it in half. It was a diamond sword. Made out of the strongest material in Minecraft. That thing even had unbreaking III on it, but Ex broke it just as easily as snapping a twig. 

“How… how did you do that?” Grian asked. 

Ex grinned maniacally. “There is so much about your world that you don’t know, Grian.”

He pulled back a fist and punched Grian in the face. “I have been waiting a long time for this moment so I can finally show you the truth.” He punched him again. “You pesky Hermits think you know everything. You think that just because you can build and craft and use redstone that you’re better than the rest of the world.” Grian was once again getting beat to a pulp, and, once again, there was nothing he could do to defend himself. 

Out of the corner of his non-swollen eye, Grian saw Jevin, sword in hand, sneaking up behind them. He held a finger to his lips.

“But I’ll let you in on a little secret,” Ex continued. “You are frail. You bleed just as much as the rest of us, if not more. And once Lyra’s done with you, there won’t be enough of you left to even bleed. And there’s nothing you can do about it.”

Hearing Jevin sneaking up behind him, Ex whipped around and impaled him in the stomach with his sword. Grian cried out in alarm, and Ex snickered with self satisfaction, but Jevin just looked down at the sword sticking out of him, looked back at Ex, and frowned. Xisuma’s brother stopped laughing. 

“I can’t believe this,” he sighed, poking at the wound disappointedly. “You ripped a hole in my favorite sweatshirt! And now it’s gonna stain too, damn it.”

Ex stepped back in surprise and mild fear. “What the hell?! That should have killed you!”

“I’m slime, dumbass,” Jevin replied. He pulled Ex’s sword out of him with a _sploosh_ and pointed it at his face. “If you want me dead, you’re gonna have to try much harder than that.”

Ex pulled another sword out of his inventory and started swinging at Jevin again. This time, however, instead of stabbing at him, he started slashing. Jevin blocked blow after blow after blow, but you could tell he was getting tired. His arms were drooping, drops of slime were dripping down his forehead like beads of sweat, his breathing was getting heavy. _He wasn’t gonna make it_ , Grian sadly thought to himself. Not without help. And help wasn’t gonna come. Not fast enough.

EvilXisuma slashed one more time and cut through Jevin, who stopped fighting in a desperate effort to keep his slime form together. Which only gave Ex another opportunity to land a hit. And another hit. And another hit. Blue slime flew everywhere. Each attack sent disgusting squishy noises through the air that mixed with the sound of screaming to create the most horrifying sound Grian had ever heard in his life. Jevin fell to the ground, but Ex didn’t stop, he kept going. At this point, the screams and the noises and the sight of his friend getting chopped to pieces was too much, so Grian squeezed his eyes tight, covered his head, and curled up into a ball, wishing that it could all just _stop_.

And then it did. Everything fell silent, except for the echoing screams ringing in Grian’s ears, a sound that would probably haunt him for the rest of his life. What little remained of it, at least. He felt himself get grabbed by the collar and was roughly lifted into the air. He offered little resistance -- what was the point? There was no escape -- and despite himself, he could feel warm tears rolling down his face. When Grian finally opened his eyes, he found himself staring in the bright red triumphant ones of his enemy. 

“If you’re gonna kill me… ” Grian began, his words slurring together. He spat some blood on the ground. “... just do it. Get it over with.”

EvilXisuma cocked his head and laughed. “I don’t think so. You see, I think you know some things that I don’t. And I would _very_ much like to know them. So you’re going to tell me.”

“Not on your life,” Grian spat.

“Oh, that’s exactly what I was hoping you would say,” Ex chuckled darkly. “Come along, Grian, we’re going to have so much fun together.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> With recent events happening in the news and in the world, friendly reminder to stay safe and healthy out there. Protect yourselves and the people around you and try not to worry too much (easier said than done sometimes, but still) <3


	22. Blood on Her Hands

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Howdy folks. Hope y’all are having a good week so far! Just remember: there’s always another day just around the corner, there’s always someone out there who’ll listen to you if you need to talk, and you can sing Hermitgang as you wash your hands if you get tired of singing happy birthday because apparently it fits <3

“You know what? I’ve had enough of this. I’m going in,” Xisuma huffed, pushing past Keralis and all but kicking down the door. It slammed open with a loud _BANG,_ startling Aster, who was busy tucking the _murderer_ into bed. Why was she doing that? Neither of them needed sleep, least of all Lyra. They were computer programs! Lines of code stitched together to resemble a person! And all they were doing that could have possibly tired them out was murder innocent Hermits, bring back his brother, and make his life incredibly difficult.

“Aster!” Keralis sheepishly chirped. “You’re healing, I see. Good, good.”

It was true, the fissures on the white haired girl were gone without a trace. Aster locked eyes with Xisuma. “Lyra healed me. She is performing quite well, returning back to her previous state of being, from long before any of you interacted with her. Believe it or not, she was not always this destructive.”

“Aster, I think you and I need to have a word,” Xisuma forced out through gritted teeth.

Aster patted the bed sheets a few times as if to make sure Lyra was comfortable, then stood up. “I could not possibly agree more. In another room perhaps? If you have not noticed, my sister is sleeping.”

“Fine, come over here.”

And he led her to the dank, dark corridor that connected the room full of beds with the room full of bodies. An unpleasant place -- it smelled awful and was wet and uncomfortable -- but it would serve its purpose. Keralis followed closely behind, intending to be a part of this conversation just like he had been in all the others, but Aster stopped him from entering. 

“No, no. I’m coming too!” Keralis protested. “Look into my eyes, nothing but my eyes. You guys are both my friends. If you’re about to have a fight or something, I want to help. I don’t want to see either of your beautiful faces hurt! Physically or otherwise.”

Aster smiled. “I appreciate the gesture, Keralis, but Xisuma and I need to work this one out on our own.” Huh, at least she acknowledged there was going to be a fight. Keralis let out a small whine. “It will be okay. I can handle myself for ten minutes. Besides, you were right, I have some things I need to say and some things I need to do. But I need to do them alone or else they will not count.”

Keralis trudged away, pouting as he went. Xisuma knew he wouldn’t go far -- he showed them all time and time again he felt he needed to protect Aster with his life -- but at least now they had some space. He was kind of surprised that Aster sent him away, actually. The two had stuck together like glue since the moment Keralis revealed her to everyone during the meeting, and they probably had known each other far longer. He always took her side too, so if they were about to argue again, it would seem useful to have Keralis as an ally, considering how he was a friend to both parties. But from the gleam in Aster’s eyes, Xisuma gathered that the girl knew exactly what she was doing. 

“I have a feeling I know what this talk is going to be about,” Aster began, clasping her hands together and standing up straight, like she was about to give a speech. “You are upset that I disobeyed orders, put your friends in danger, and lied to you about what I was planning on doing about Lyra.”

Xisuma crossed his arms over his chest. “That just about sums it up, yeah.”

“I cannot go back and change anything that has been done, Xisuma, we both know that,” Aster remarked. “But if I could, knowing what I know now, I would. I was scared. I was desperate. I only thought about myself, not how my actions would affect those around me. I should have told you the truth, and I should have been better at protecting everyone. For that, I am truly sorry.” 

“Thank you for the apology,” Xisuma replied shortly. “But this doesn’t just go away because you say sorry. Ex is on the loose, five of the Hermits are dead or dying, and Lyra… Whatever. These are my friends, my family, Aster.”

“And Lyra is _my_ family,” Aster shot back. “The only family I have left! I may be sorry for going behind your back, but I am not sorry for keeping her alive. That decision I would not change even if my own life was on the line. And it was. I risked everything on that battlefield, just like everyone else out there. In a split second, I chose what I thought was right for all involved. It may not have been the ideal choice in your eyes, but it was not your choice to make. It was mine.”

Xisuma scoffed. “Your choice to make? Your choice to erase her memory, keep her in a world where everyone hates her, and try to reshape her into the person you want her to be? Yeah, I’m sure Lyra’s input on that matter wasn’t of importance.”

Aster stepped away from the wall and stormed over to the admin. She shook a finger in his face and growled, “That is none of your business.”

“I think it is.”

“You do not know anything about us, so stop pretending like, like, like you know everything,” Aster stammered. Suddenly, her head jerked to the side and her figure started glitching. Then, as soon as it started, it stopped. Aster began breathing heavily, and she reached over to the stone wall to stabilize herself. When she opened her eyes, she caught Xisuma’s questioning gaze. Embarrassed, she turned away. Xisuma opened his mouth as if to ask what was going on, but Aster cut him off before he could even begin with a deep sigh. “Things used to be different. Things used to be good. Then, stuff happened, life got complicated, and Lyra changed. It was my fault. I ruined her one chance at a simple life because I was not there for her when she needed me the most.”

“What did you do?” 

His tone was softer now, less accusing. Maybe there was more going on than he originally thought. After all, Aster _seemed_ to always have good intentions, even if her methods were sketchy and she wasn’t all that honest. No, Xisuma couldn’t trust Aster. He probably couldn’t bring himself to ever trust her completely after all of this. But that didn’t stop him from, he didn’t know, basic human compassion or something. Or maybe it was just curiosity. 

“I…” Aster took a deep breath, pondering whether or not she should reveal her past to Xisuma. But, figuring some honesty now was better than no honesty at all, she told him, “I did not tell Keralis everything, so if I am to tell you what happened, you have to promise me you will not share any of this with him.”

“You didn’t tell someone something? Shocker.”

“Please, do not do this. You have to pinky promise you will not tell him. I just…” she searched for the right words, “need to work up the strength to. It is my story to tell, and I should at least have the right to tell him in my own time.”

“Fine. I pinky promise.”

“Thank you.” Aster picked at a chunk of stone in the wall. “When I created Lyra, well, it was shortly after my creator, a programmer by the name of Bennett, was killed. You know that part of the story, correct?”

“Yeah, Keralis told us that. I’m sorry for your loss. It sounded like you two were really close.”

Aster dryly chuckled. “Yeah, we really were. After… after it happened, I was desperate for a friend, I had the power to create, and I knew that Bennett would rather his legacy live on than fizzle out after his demise. So I created Lyra, I built her to be a replica of me but different enough that she could be her own person. We got along alright for a while. Lyra and I were sisters. We navigated the web together and adventured as much as we could, and it was wonderful. We were not hurting anyone, so nobody tried to stop us. Nobody even knew we existed. 

“But then, one day I came across the company that ordered my creation and killed Bennett when he refused to cooperate, and I was filled with so much _rage_.” Her voice shook as she said this. “Who gave them the right to do this to me? Why did they bring me into this world, if only to make me suffer and hurt people? So I told Lyra what happened. I told her my plan to fight back, to hurt the people that hurt me.” Aster tugged at the hem of her dress, a recognizable nervous tic of hers. “The internet of things is a wide place, Xisuma, and once you are in, there are a lot of ways to make people suffer. Cars, buildings, machinery. Everything is connected nowadays, so it is easier to attack things you would not expect to be attacked. Everyone there who had ties to Bennett was a target. It was… not my best moment.”

Xisuma understood what she meant and decided it was best not to pry more than he had to. Still, it was very hard to imagine Aster causing death and destruction in the real world. She was a very skittish person, second guessing herself on every decision she made. The way she interacted with the others, you could tell she worried that she was taking things too far. And he remembered seeing her on the battlefield. When Iskall fell, Aster rushed over to him to try to save him, and when she couldn’t, she was devastated. And Iskall was able to respawn. He was never truly dead. So the idea of the guilt-ridden girl standing before him launching an attack to kill real people was… hard to believe, to say the least. But from the pain in her words and the shame in her eyes, Xisuma knew that she was telling the truth. And she had blood on her hands.

“So what happened next?” 

Aster sighed. “Lyra and I worked together. One of us would attack, the other would defend us from any countermeasures. But, after a while, I started seeing that what I was doing was horribly wrong. Most of the people I had hurt were not the ones who gave the orders. The people around them felt the loss of loved ones. Other innocents got caught in my attacks. There was a widespread panic. Instead of feeling good about myself, I just felt horrible. In my quest for revenge, I had stooped to their level. And I hurt the people that I had promised myself in the beginning that I would help.

“I tried to stop myself, and I tried to tell Lyra to stop, but my rage, my pain, had already infected her. Maybe she wanted to impress me, maybe she had a bloodlust of her own, but she would not stop no matter what I said. So, as she went out to do more damage, I abandoned her. I figured that she would stop on her own, or maybe I was just tired of her not listening to me. It was selfish, it was cruel, but I thought it was the best thing to do at that point. I was wrong.

“Something must have happened to her that night, because she came back injured. More injured than you have ever seen me. I tried to reason with her, I tried to tell her that she needed to stop, but now she had an excuse to hate humans. An excuse of her own. Because they hurt her and turned me against her.” She shifted her weight as she spoke. “I assume you know the rest. Lyra traveled deeper into the web, breaking things, hurting people. I cleaned up her messes. I got tired of her doing so, she got tired of me doing so, and now we are here.”

Her story finally told, with all of her darkest secrets revealed, Aster bowed her head. “So you can do it now.”

“Pardon?”

“You can do it now.” She looked up at him. “You can delete me.”

Xisuma raised an eyebrow. “What? Why would I delete you?”

“Because I am a murderer!” Aster exclaimed angrily. “I am just as bad as Lyra, if not worse! If you think that what she did warrants death, then what I did warrants even worse. Delete me. But keep her alive. Because she deserves the second chance I gave her, and she deserves to live more than I ever have.”

“Hey, stop that!” Xisuma grabbed Aster’s shoulders. “I get it. No need to be a martyr. Geez. Sure, I’ll concede that Lyra may deserve a second chance.” Aster opened her mouth to speak and Xisuma raised his hand to stop her. “I said _may_. We’ll have to see. But if you’re right about this, and everything is fine now that she’s a new person, what she deserves most of all is the truth. And she deserves to hear it from you.”

Aster looked confused. “Wait, so you are not about to delete me?”

“Of course not,” Xisuma laughed. “You may be a piece of work, Aster. You may have done whatever it is that you did back then. You may still make a _lot_ of bad decisions now--”

“Is this supposed to be inspirational or insulting?”

“-- but you are _trying_ to be better. So yeah, I may not have trusted you a whole lot, and I still don’t, for the record,” Xisuma clarified, “but I understand what it’s like to want the best for someone even when they hurt you and can’t see it for themselves.”

For so long, he had tried to make things work between EvilXisuma and the rest of the Hermits. However, time and time again he would cause trouble for everyone, and they would get upset and demand him to control his brother. There were good times, sure. Like how inviting him to play tag was a lot of fun. But things started to get more and more out of control, and with the civil war on the rise, Xisuma knew that he needed to do something or risk a massive problem on his hands that would endanger his relationship with his friends. So he offered his brother a choice: change his ways or else.

And EvilXisuma chose the latter. 

Aster nodded in understanding. And for a moment, neither person said anything. “We are more alike than I previously thought, Xisuma.”

“Yeah, we really are. Making mistakes, pushing people away, not being able to pull the trigger out of love.” Xisuma chuckled. “Kinda weird, isn’t it? We’ve been at odds for so long, and now we’re the only people that truly get each other.”

“Yes, very weird indeed.” More uncomfortable silence as the gravity of it all sunk in. “So… what do we do now? How do we fix this?”

“I’m… not sure.”

“Okay. What do you _want_ to do to fix this?”

Xisuma though for a moment. “Well, locating EvilX is key. We need to make sure he’s not in a position to hurt anyone, or else--”

“Sorry to interrupt, but your communicator has been buzzing a lot recently and it worries me,” Aster commented, pointing to the glowing device clipped to the belt on his waist. “Usually, that means bad things.” Damn it, how long had that been happening? He didn’t even feel it.

“It’s probably just Stress checking in,” Xisuma commented as he unclipped it from his belt. “I’ve been gone for a while, they’re probably… just…” His face fell as he read the chats. 

_Stressmonster101: Ex spotted at camera 19_

_Stressmonster101: Impulse, Tango, that’s you_

_ImpulseSV: We’re on it!_

_Stressmonster101: Be careful everyone!_

_Zedaph: yeah, gl, we’ve got our eyes on the cameras_

_ImpulseSV was killed by EvilXisuma_

_Tango was killed by EvilXisuma_

_Zedaph: Permadeath!!! He’s got permadeath!!!_

_Grian: What?! How??_

_Stressmonster101: We need backup, X. I know there’s not many of you left, but still._

_PythonGB was killed by EvilXisuma_

_TinfoilChef was killed by EvilXisuma_

_Zedaph: X, where are you?_

_Grian: where is he now?_

_Stressmonster101: Uhh, coral shop_

_Stressmonster101: Heading towards Sahara_

_ZombieCleo: Sahara?_

_Stressmonster101: Be CAREFUL_

_Welsknight was killed by EvilXisuma_

_iJevin was killed by EvilXisuma_

_Zedaph: oh dear_

_joehillssays: Where’s Grian?_

_MumboJumbo: Listen, if anyone else sees him, do not interact. Just run. Keep yourselves safe._

_Stressmonster101: X, is everything alright by you guys? Where are you?_

_ZombieCleo: No way, we aren’t abandoning post. We gotta keep you guys safe_

_joehillssays: Again, anyone got eyes on Grian?_

_MumboJumbo: X, where are you?!_

“Shit,” Xisuma muttered as he grabbed Aster and half dragged her out of the cavern to alert the others. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whaat? CactusKat finally sits down and comes up with character development? Solving problems instead of creating more angst? Whaaaaaaat?


	23. Famous Last Words

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My school’s been shut down for an indefinite amount of time :/
> 
> You’d think that would give me more time to write but nooooo I have to be doing calculus and spend time with my family

Mumbo could feel his heart beating within his chest. There he stood, shaking with fear and anticipation, next to the hallway and holding his sword high, ready to strike if need be. The team had abandoned the communicators and the screens ages ago, deciding instead that the best course of action was to prepare themselves for the inevitable attack on their base. Stress stood opposite him, her brow furrowed and her hands swirling with ice magic. Zedaph was under the table, eyes glued to his communicator, desperately searching for any sign of hope. Not out of cowardice, no, they told him to stay there just in case X responded. Or in case something were to happen and the bunker was breached, he could let out a distress signal or something.

Though the death messages would speak for themselves.

“So, this is how it’s gonna be,” Mumbo whispered, mostly out of a general discomfort with the heavy silence. “Never thought I was gonna die in my own demise bunker. Kind of ironic, isn’t it?” He chuckled to himself.

Nobody responded, which was fair. It wasn’t exactly the most tasteful joke he’d come up with, considering the circumstances. He quietly cursed himself for being such a spoon. Stress’s eyes stayed glued on the doorway. Zedaph’s eyes stayed glued to the screen. After a brief moment that seemed to last forever, Zed sighed.

“They’re coming, Xisuma’s coming,” he whispered. Everyone in the room gave a collective sigh or relief. “They’re finally sending help. It’s just him, Keralis, Aster, Iskall, and Ren, but it’s something”

“Thank  _ god _ ,” Stress replied just as quietly. She relaxed her hands a bit and the snowflakes dancing around her fingers disappeared. Then, she rubbed them together and blew on them softly in order to warm her hands up again. Mumbo had seen her do this maybe a thousand times before, but her ability to channel and use ice magic still fascinated him to this day. She really was the ice queen. 

“Any news on Grian?” Mumbo asked hopefully. He saw the builder land right next to iJevin and Wels in an effort to hold back EvilXisuma and keep him from getting to Sahara and eventually the Dragon Bro bunker. He had even shot Mumbo a personal chat, one only he could see, and one he didn’t really feel like sharing with the others.

_ Grian: in case something goes wrong, just remember that you guys are my best friends _

_ Mumbo: Grian don’t say that. _

_ Grian: ily man :P _

_ Grian: tell Iskall that too _

It made sense, everyone had died when facing EvilX, what was stopping him from going down too? But as long as they held down the fort, as long as they kept EvilX at bay, Xisuma would come and fix everything. Still, when the camera went down and they got the news that Jevin and Wels were both dead, he feared the worst. But then they waited and waited, and the death message never came. And somehow that made him feel even worse. Because Grian wouldn’t abandon the fight, right? He wouldn’t give up on them. So that meant… he wasn’t sure what it meant, but it couldn’t be good. 

Zed shook his head. “I’m sorry, Mumbo. There’s no updates about him. I have no idea whether he’s dead or alive or something else entirely. We haven’t even seen or heard about EvilX, it’s like the two of them just vanished for the past half hour.” The communicator pinged. “Hang on, wait a second, maybe…” 

_ joehillssays was killed by EvilXisuma _

“Oh. Joe… He’s here then. He’s right outside.”

Everyone held their breath and hoped that he wouldn’t find the entrance. Prayed Cleo and Joe hid them well enough. Wished for him to just go away and leave them alone. Stress whipped out her magic hands, preparing for the worst. Mumbo took a moment to remove his elytra and don his enchanted diamond chest plate instead. Zedaph scooted further back beneath the desk and squeezed his eyes tight, as if he thought by doing so he could shut out the rest of the world. Then, the communicator pinged again.

_ ZombieCleo was killed by EvilXisuma _

“He got Cleo too.”

Shoot. Okay, both of them were down. That wasn’t good. If they didn’t have enough time to hide the bunker, it was only a matter of time before he came down and… Mumbo shut his eyes and shook his head. No, best not to think about stuff like that. They would have hidden the entrance. They would have taken up the button as soon as they heard from Stress. And there was no other way EvilX would know about the bunker, right? So they would be safe. 

_ BOOM. _

A muffled explosion from somewhere above them said otherwise. 

“That sounded awfully close,” Stress mumbled. She whipped her head around as it hit her. “Wait, did either of you set any traps up there?”

“No, no I didn’t,” Mumbo nervously replied. “I didn’t have enough time to, and we defused all of the traps left over from demise. There shouldn’t be any TNT anywhere near Sahara, I mean, unless Grian did something but he’d tell us if he did something.”

“So that explosion,” Zed whispered, his eyes widening, “wasn’t one of ours?”

“No.”

Block breaking noises, splashing noises, then heavy footstep noises. Someone was coming down the hallway. He was almost there. Of course they would go down fighting if they had to -- that had been the plan all along -- but now that the end was so near, Mumbo felt so scared. More scared than he had ever felt in his entire life. And also a little sad. The server had lost so many people today, he was starting to lose count. He could only imagine how the other survivors were about to feel.

“Hey, Zed,” Mumbo said softly. “Would you kindly pass me my communicator?”

***

From the messages in chat, Xisuma knew that there would be a lot of bloodshed in the shopping district. He had come to terms with the fact that most of his friends had been slaughtered by his wayward twin brother. However, nothing could have prepared him for the sight that awaited him as he, Ren, and Iskall entered the shopping district. Corpses were littered about. Blood splattered everywhere. Discarded communicators tossed aside with the occasional cry for help typed out, unsent. It made his skin crawl, seeing everything now and thinking about what their final moments could have possibly been like. 

It was when Xisuma saw the state of iJevin, his slime form so completely mutilated that it hardly resembled a man anymore, that he couldn’t take it any longer. His bones felt weak, his knees suddenly buckled, and he fell to the ground. Bile rose up in the back of his throat, but he choked it back down in a last ditch effort to keep his cool.  _ Dear god, what has this world come to? _

Ren gently placed a hand on Xisuma’s shoulder. “Come on, man, we have to keep going. We have to get to Ex before he hurts anyone else.” Xisuma nodded, barely registering what Ren was saying. His head was so fuzzy. Everything felt numb, as if his brain was trying its best to find a way of dealing with all of this. Beats breaking down and shutting down any day, but still. Iskall held out a hand, and Xisuma took it to lift himself up. 

It was horrible. It was sickening. And his brother had done this, all because of a choice that Xisuma himself made a long time ago. But if he made the wrong choice, then what was the right choice to make? He couldn’t keep Ex around, but he couldn’t bring himself to kill him. Back then, he saw what he did as a happy medium between the two sides of himself: the side that needed order and the side that loved his brother.

Just like how Aster chose to save Lyra. Maybe that was why he was so pissed at her these days. Why he snapped at her the moment she broke away from their plan. Why he continued to hold a bit of a grudge now despite them talking through what happened and reaching some sort of an agreement. Because he was so much like her.

And she had an opportunity to start over that he never got.

“From the death messages and what Joe was saying in chat, I think Grian’s still alive somewhere,” Iskall remarked hopefully. “It wouldn’t be a bad idea to at least look.”

“I agree,” Ren added. “X? What do you think, buddy?”

They had a point. Ex was long gone. He had been for quite some time now. Xisuma knew they would be too late as soon as he saw the chat the first time and how many people had already died, but a part of him still had hoped he could catch Ex in the act. Beat him once and for all. But instead of a battle and a chance for redemption, all he saw before him was a ghost town. “Yeah, sure.”

And so the trio dispersed for the first time since arriving at the shopping district, searching high and low for their missing friend. Xisuma ducked into shops, peeked around landscaping, searched anywhere you might be able to put a slender red-sweatered man. Surprisingly enough, there were a lot of places. Somewhere between ten or twenty minutes had passed before he heard Ren call out, “Oh my god… Xisuma! Iskall! Found him! I found Grian!”

Xisuma and Iskall ran over from their places around the shopping district, following the sound of Ren’s voice. He was standing at one of Grian’s old shops, the rustic covered wagon one where he used to sell all the grindy things he gained from digs such as sand, quartz, and cobblestone way before Sahara existed. Upon not seeing Grian in front of or around them, the other two shot Ren a questioning look. Ren sighed and pointed up to a giant cage being hung over the wagon and the blood-soaked human inside. Grian weakly raised a hand to wave to his friends and tried to say something witty but went into a coughing fit before he had the chance to do so.

“Don’t just stand there gaping!” Ren exclaimed. “Get him out of there already!”

***

“Thanks again for the food and the tools,” Grian said, munching absentmindedly on a golden carrot. “He ripped my elytra off my back when he… when he got me, and I only really had my sword on me, but he broke it during the fight. It was… not my proudest moment, heh.” He pulled the blanket Ren had crafted even tighter around his shoulders. This was the second time he sat in front of a group of Hermits that all gave him the same concerned look, wanting to hear his story but patiently waiting for him to heal up first. It kinda pissed him off that this kept happening to him, that he consistently found himself powerless to things outside his control and losing battles he was never meant to win, but he felt too exhausted and pained to feel properly pissed off. So he huddled up more inside his blanket for warmth and kept eating. He’d kill for some of Ren’s beetroot stew right about now, but he wasn’t gonna be a bother. 

“He took my communicator too,” he commented. “So I don’t know-- Is everyone…?”

“For the most part,” X grimly replied. Grian nodded in understanding.  _ Wow. _ Nearly everyone on the server, wiped out in one day. This was some Thanos level shit. Except Thanos was kind enough to at least leave half of everything still alive. 

“It’s just us, Aster, and Keralis left, to our knowledge,” Iskall told him.

Grian hung his head. “So I’m assuming Mumbo… Mumbo’s gone too?”

“That’s where things get weird,” Ren began softly, not wanting to upset Grian any further. It was a little late for that. “You see, when I went over to check, when Iskall and Xisuma were getting you down from your cage, I saw Stress in the bunker but no Mumbo or Zedaph. Their death messages popped up in chat, but they weren’t there. I’m not sure whether they respawned or something else.”

“I tried, guys, I really did,” Grian choked, his shoulders shaking. “I didn’t want to tell him anything. Swore up and down I wouldn’t. But then… then he started…” 

Iskall wrapped his arms around Grian, and the builder buried his face in his friend’s sweatshirt and sobbed. They sat there together for a few moments, Grian weakly crying and Iskall gently rubbing his back to calm him down. While this was going on, Ren and Xisuma exchanged nervous glances that didn’t go unnoticed. The meaning was clear: they weren’t gonna pressure Grian to talk if he didn’t want to. Unlike the last time with the visions, the specifics of what happened to him didn’t matter in the grand scheme of things. So at the very least he could keep that part of dignity he still had to himself. 

But the truth still stood. He had told EvilX about the attack on Lyra. He had told EvilX where the others were. He had killed Stress and Joe and Cleo and Zed and Mumbo. Mumbo… knowing Ex and what he was capable of, Mumbo was probably suffering a fate much worse than death. The blood of five people, five of his close friends, was on his hands. And there wasn’t even a good way to justify it. 

“We know, Grian, we understand,” Ren told him. “Hell, if any of us were in your position, we probably would’ve done the same thing.”

“What matters to us is that you’re safe now,” Xisuma agreed. 

Grian rubbed his eyes and sat up straighter. “Did Aster actually get rid of Lyra?”

“That’s… another thing.” Iskall fiddled with the zipper on his vest. “Aster didn’t kill Lyra, she erased her memory. Lyra’s still alive. Listen, we already talked to her about it, it was not--”

“That’s good to hear. At least  _ one _ thing went right today,” Grian mumbled, taking another bite of his carrot.

Everyone did a double take. “I’m sorry, what?” Xisuma sputtered. 

Grian glanced around the room at everyone’s confusion, and then realized that they didn’t know. Aster hadn’t told them about his involvement. He appreciated that she was trying to protect him and everything, but man, she must have faced a ton of flack for using herself as a scapegoat. “Oh, um, I was the one who told Aster to erase Lyra’s memory.”

“You  _ what?! _ ” Iskall exclaimed. 

“You didn’t know this? I can’t believe she didn’t say anything about it. Yeah, I told her to do it, and I told her to keep it a secret too.” He looked X up and down and added, “Can you blame us? I know you, Xisuma. You care a lot about all of us and want to keep us safe. Don't get me wrong, it's very noble, but you don’t consider Aster one of us and it shows. You can’t honestly say that you would’ve been fine with our plan if we told you.”

Xisuma opened his mouth as if to say something, thought better of it, and looked away. “No, you’re right, I wouldn’t have.”

“Do me a favor and try not to hold it against her,” Grian requested. “She’s confused and scared and just trying to do right by everyone. To atone for past mistakes or whatever.” He faced X, who wouldn’t meet his eyes. Time to drive the point home. “I have a feeling you know what I mean.”

Iskall slapped his knees and stood up. “Okay, enough of that.” Smooth transition, Iskall, very smooth. “I propose we head back to base, get Grian rested and healed all the way, and regroup.”

“What? No! We need to find Ex!” Xisuma blurted.

“Well, until we catch wind of what your bro is up to, there’s not much we can do to track him down. He’s probably got Zed and Mumbo, and as much as we want to find them, and believe me,” Iskall glared at nobody in particular, “I  _ want _ to find them, there’s no use in tiring ourselves out over nothing. Running ourselves ragged won’t do anybody any good. Least of all them.”

Xisuma nodded. “I guess you’re right.”

“Well, there is one thing we could do,” Grian suggested. “But I don’t think you guys are going to like it too much.” 

After Grian finished sharing his plan, the group grumbled a bit, but quickly got to work. They built a makeshift wagon and started placing their friends inside of it, since Grian figured it would be better for Aster if all of the dead people were in one place. Easier to heal them and all if they didn’t have to waste time tracking everybody down. The idea was macabre in theory, even worse in practice. Xisuma and Iskall dragged the cart along, Ren lifted people onto it. Grian himself wasn’t carrying anybody because he was barely carrying himself, and everyone agreed that he would be better off just focusing on getting home in one piece. 

When they reached the spot where he, iJevin, and Wels had their last stand, he couldn’t help but grimace at the sight. The familiar feeling of fear rose up in his chest, and once again, he heard the screams ringing in his ears.

_ He couldn’t protect them. _

_ He was weak.  _

_ He let them down. _

Grian shook his head to rid himself of the thoughts. They knew what they were getting into. He knew what he was getting into. He hadn’t failed them any more than they failed themselves. A horrible thought, but it was true, wasn’t it? He wasn’t any more to blame for what was going on than anyone else here. If his brain was going to play the blame game, Ex was the only one now who really deserved it. 

As the others struggled to figure out what to do with Jevin’s remains, Grian noticed something glowing in a small patch of grass. His communicator, discarded after the battle. He picked it up and dusted it off.  _ Huh, this is in surprisingly good condition, all things considered _ . Grian cautiously turned the thing on, curious about chats but knowing that what he’d see wouldn’t bring him peace or happiness or whatever he wanted it to. Everyone died. The end. What more could he want to know?

That’s when he saw the chat from Mumbo, sent mere seconds before his death.

_ MumboJumbo: i love you too, man _

_ MumboJumbo: goodbye _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah Grian doesn’t really get a break in this fic, does he? I feel bad for the guy... he just wants his friends back :(


	24. More Than My Mistakes

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was not supposed to be a) this long and b) only one focus, but sometimes your characters just wanna talk and think bout stuff instead of do things and you just gotta let them. 
> 
> I may be the writer here but I don’t control any of the characters in this thing. I just start writing and hope they do something productive.

“Are you sure you are up to this, Lyra?” Keralis asked her. He reached out his hand as if to place it on her shoulder, but thinking better of it, he pulled away. Lyra noticed his hesitation. On the one hand, she didn’t appreciate the fear in his eyes as he looked at her. On the other, well, it made sense. And at least she wasn’t being treated like a clone of Aster. Something told her that would be much worse. As if to cover his mistake, Keralis cleared his throat and continued, “Because you don’t have to if you aren’t ready. Nobody’s forcing you to do this.”

Lyra slowly nodded. “You think it is a horrible idea, I know, but I have a duty.”

“Your duty is not to put yourself into harm’s way for the sake of justice,” Keralis emphasized. “Aster doesn’t want that from you any more than you want it for her.”

“But I cannot just let her go in there alone and use up all of her energy trying to fix my mistakes!” she exclaimed, gesturing towards the door to the other room. Aster was inside, and she had gone inside intending to bring some of the Hermits back to consciousness about a half hour ago. From the lights and disgruntled noises that came from inside, she knew that her sister had been less than successful so far. “Aster is injured. If she tries to heal everybody in there by herself she will die. Whatever magic allows us to do what we do is finite. If you truly care about Aster, you will let me in.”

Keralis raised his hands and backed off. “Alright, alright, if you say so, Miss Lyra. I am warning you though--”

“If this about Aster, I can handle my sister.”

“No, more so about the people you are bringing back.” He nervously adjusted his glasses, considering how to best phrase what he was about to say. “The last time these people saw you, you were, um, killing them. So do not be alarmed if they are not in the mood to see you again when they wake up.”

“Oh… yes. I forgot about that.”

He sadly smiled. “Just a thing to keep in mind. Not trying to discourage you anymore. I’ll be over here if you need me.”

Lyra honestly did not remember what she had done to them, and she barely knew how to fix them because of it, but that was by design. When Aster had pulled her aside and finally explained everything to her, what she had done and what Aster had done to stop her, Lyra completely understood. Aster wanted to keep her alive, she was somehow for some reason on a murderous rampage, and erasing her memory was the only way out. No, Lyra didn’t blame Aster for what she did. If Lyra was in her place, she probably would’ve done the exact same thing. While Aster could be flighty and frustrating at times, she felt connected to her in a way she didn’t feel with the players.

However, the fact that she didn’t remember what she did didn’t erase the fact that the virus was spread and innocent people were suffering. So, to atone for sins she didn’t know existed before an hour ago, Lyra thought it was best to help Aster heal people. She understood why Keralis was trying so hard to dissuade her, but she had to do  _ something _ right by the Hermits. Otherwise, she was just useless. Not only in their eyes, but her own. She pushed open the door and stepped inside, careful to not disturb Aster from her healing. But Aster stopped on her own. The blue light died down, she leaned over the person she was working on (a… pirate? His face was scarred but his he had no eye patch), and cursed herself upon seeing no movements. 

“Maybe I should take over for a little bit,” Lyra suggested, taking a seat on a bed next to a girl with long pretty hair, goggles, and a cute green jacket. Green wasn’t really Lyra’s color -- she much preferred red -- but it suited the golden-haired girl. 

Aster turned around and quickly composed herself, brushing her hair back with her fingers and straightening her dress. Trying to hide the fact that a few seconds ago she was failing at her mission to bring the fallen Hermits back to life, but Lyra saw through her facade just like how she saw through Keralis’s. “Not necessary,” Aster said, out of breath. “I have this all under control.” 

“You are a terrible liar, Aster,” Lyra chuckled. “You are still healing. Your energy is not replenished, and that is okay. Just tell me what I need to do, and I can do it for you.”

“Out of the question.” She returned to standing over the Hermit, placing her hands on his forehead and arm and glowing with that familiar blue light. Lyra walked over and grabbed one of Aster’s hands. 

“Why are you trying so hard to protect me from a threat that does not exist?” Lyra questioned her. “The battle is over. You have won. What happens next is ours to decide, and I have decided to be a better version of myself than the one you knew before. Are you afraid I will see the virus and turn evil?”

Aster shook her head. “No, of course not.”

“Are you afraid I am going to get hurt?” 

“I know better than that,” she replied. 

“If so, then why are you so afraid of letting me help you?” Lyra asked. “I am no child, I can handle a little healing.” When Aster didn’t reply, Lyra added, “I will do it with you, then. We will save this man together. I will heal his wounds, and you will remove the virus and the damage it has done. That way, I stay away from the virus like you want me to, and you get the help you so desperately need, you stubborn fool.”

Aster chuckled to herself and crossed her arms. “You will not take no for an answer, will you, sister?” 

Taking her exasperated response as a yes, Lyra held her hand and smirked. “Nope!”

“That makes you even more stubborn than me,” Aster sighed.

She placed her right hand on the man’s forehead, and Lyra placed her left hand over the man’s stomach, where there was a gaping wound. A sword must have caused it, judging by the size and the shape, and for a moment, Lyra wondered if she was the one holding that sword. But that was a silly thought -- well, not silly so much as unlikely -- because she couldn’t hold items, let alone weapons. She didn’t have the form necessary to murder someone in this way, but she knew the virus was hers, and therefore his blood was on her hands. Aster squeezed her hand, and Lyra looked up into her sister’s kind eyes.

“Are you okay?” she asked.

“Yes, just thinking of things,” Lyra replied. She didn’t say any more than that because she didn’t want to have that conversation right now. The one where Aster said what happened in the past didn’t matter anymore. Because it did matter. It mattered then, and as long as the evil man was still out there and there were people in these beds at this base, it still mattered now. “I am ready now.”

“Alright. Let us do this.”

Lyra closed her eyes and felt the energy from deep within her coming to the surface. She focused her mind and cleared her thoughts the way Aster told her to, and she began to heal. Her warm energy, her magic or whatever it was, tingled at her fingertips, warm and soft. Beneath her fingers, she could feel the wound stitching itself together. It was a delicate process, but one she was getting very good at. The man might not even scar if she did everything right. Through closed eyelids, she could see the room illuminated with the combined blue light of her and Aster working together. The thought of working  _ with _ Aster rather than against her for once almost made her giddy.

Then, just as soon as it started, it was over. The physical wound was healed, now it was all up to Aster to finish healing his mind. Lyra took this opportunity to study her sister’s face. Aster’s eyes glowed a light blue with the energy coursing within her, providing her with the ability to give life. Aside from that, her face was peaceful. Happy even. This was where Aster belonged: helping people, fixing things. This was where she was truly satisfied. When she was finished, she took a step back and motioned for Lyra to do the same.

“Did it work? Did we do it?” Lyra asked. She already knew the answer from Aster’s sunny expression but figured it was polite to ask anyway. 

“You were right, Lyra,” Aster answered her, grabbing both of her hands. “I did need your help. Alone, I can only do so much, but together we are unstoppable. Can you see it? This was how we were always supposed to be, and it brings me great joy to know that we can work together again.”

“Of course we can work together again. Why would you think any differently?”

A slight groan caught the two girls’ attention, and they turned in unison to see what was going on. The adventurer (Lyra wasn’t sure  _ what _ he was anymore) turned over in his bed and his eyes slowly cracked opened. His feet hit the floor and he sat up, but started wobbling as if he was a bit dizzy. Aster rushed to his side. 

“Sir, are you alright?” she asked, grabbing him by the arm to steady him. “What do you last remember?”

“I… I was in a cave of sorts,” the man said, his voice deep and gruff from disuse. He looked down at his shoes as he waited for the dizziness to pass. “I was on an altar, there were two other people, they wanted to save the server I think… and I was killed by a friend of mine, Bdubs. And there was some girl… It’s all very fuzzy. I thought I was a goner. It was so dark, so cold.” The adventurer sighed and looked up at Aster in confusion. “Thank you for saving me. Now, who are you exactly?”

Aster smiled warmly. “My name is Aster.”

“Thanks, Aster. You can call me Scar. And you are…?” He turned to face Lyra, who waved politely, and his face immediately fell. His eyes widened in horror and he scrambled backwards on the bed. “I-I know you! You’re… Your name is Lyra! You were there, you had him kill me!” 

“Wait, please…” Lyra began, stepping towards him. Aster held a hand out to stop her from going any further; her approach was scaring the poor man even worse. “If you will just listen—“

“Why on earth would I listen to  _ you _ ? You had me killed!” he snapped. In his retreat, he ran out of bed space and slipped on the sheets, falling backwards onto the floor. Aster ran over to the other side of the bed to help him up, but he swatted at her to go away.

“Please be patient with my sister, Scar. She lost her memory recently,” Aster explained quickly. “Anything she did in the past, she does not remember at all. Whatever happened to you must have been traumatizing, but there is no use being mad at her when she does not know what she did.” 

Lyra jumped in, “I am trying to figure it out for myself. Apparently, past me did a lot of damage. And I wish to fix things.”

“She healed you,” Aster added. “You had a wound in your chest that had not gone away yet, and she fixed it.”

“I am not asking for your trust, you do not owe me that. I just want your patience,” Lyra finished, reaching out her hand for a handshake. “And your time.” She didn’t expect him to accept, and he really didn’t need to. While it kind of irritated her sometimes that she was being held hostage to her crimes from days she didn’t even remember, she knew better than to let that consume her. Apparently, her anger had gotten the better of her once before, and it put them all in this mess in the first place. 

However, to her surprise, Scar shakily reached out his hand and shook hers. She then helped him stand up off of the floor and carefully lowered him onto the bed. After all, he was still recovering. They may have healed his physical wounds, but he still needed time to heal mentally and get used to his physical form again. The expression on his face was unreadable. Was it fear in his eyes? Confusion? Understanding? Lyra still had a lot to learn. 

“How… how did you lose your memory?” he asked her, cautiously. 

She grimaced and glanced toward her sister for reassurance. Aster smiled and gave Lyra a subtle thumbs up. “It is a very long story.”

Scar shrugged. “I think I have the time.” He hesitated for a moment before patting the empty space next to him as if to offer her a spot. Not wanting to ruin this opportunity at a friendship — no, not a friendship, this couldn’t possibly be a friendship, could it? — she sat down beside him. “I want to know everything you know about what happened. And not just what you did, but what’s happened since. I’ve been out for a while. I feel like I’ve missed a lot.”

Lyra nodded and began telling him the story as she knew it. She only told him the important details, not just the carnage but the people who did brave things, those who came back, those who didn’t. Though a quick glance around the room could tell him that much. Aster chimed in where Lyra was fuzzy on the details, but for the most part she let her sister lead. When Lyra got to the point where she woke up on the battlefield, she got more descriptive in her storytelling: telling Scar about how she felt waking up knowing nobody, describing the faces of the Hermits as they led her to the cave, and recounting her experience healing both Aster and him. Sometime during this part, her sister had left the room, figuring it was best to leave the two alone. Which Lyra appreciated. She hadn’t had the opportunity to tell her side of the story yet since nobody had really asked, so having Scar keep his eyes on her, listening intently to what she had to say… it made her feel good getting everything off her chest. 

“.. and then you woke up and the rest is history. So that is the story of how a lot of things got ruined, why everybody is mad at me, and what we are doing to make things right,” Lyra concluded. “Told you it was going to be a long one.”

Scar nodded grimly. “So Ex is really free?”

“Yes.”

“Huh.” He stared off into space. “And you know how to fix the rest of my friends?”

“Yes, it just takes time and energy.”

“I’m a Minecraft builder,” Scar chuckled, “you don’t need to tell me about things that take time and energy. I get it.”

Lyra nervously picked at her fingers. “So how are you feeling about everything? I understand if that is a stupid question, but I am curious. And anxious.”

He tilted his head. “Anxious? Why would you be anxious?”

“Well, I am anxious to hear what you think after all of this. Mainly, what you think about me. I guess what I am trying to say is: I am tired of people hating me, and I hope I can maybe have the opportunity to try again,” Lyra confessed. “But instead of screwing things up, making friends, having memories, enjoying the world that you guys have here.”

Scar tilted his head as he thought. It was a loaded question, asking someone to tell you what they thought of you outright. It is easy to show someone how you feel about them, Lyra figured, through mannerisms and interactions. But telling them what you think of them is difficult sometimes, especially when you aren’t quite sure yourself. 

“I don’t hate you,” Scar finally said. “I’m not really scared of you either. At least, not anymore. I’m not sure what I feel instead. It’s very complicated. But then again, the situation’s pretty complicated itself.” 

“That it is.” Not really the answer she was looking for, but it wasn’t the worst thing he could’ve said. No, they wouldn’t be friends, but maybe they could be acquaintances. In time, if Lyra kept being good, they might grow to be pleasant to one another. However, despite knowing this, Lyra’s heart still fell as he spoke. Another limited opportunity, another broken relationship, another person who would only really see her for her mistakes.

“That being said,” Scar continued, noticing his discarded hat on the floor and picking it up, “I believe you have a good head on your shoulders, Lyra. If you say you want to fix things, you want to help out, I believe that.” He placed his hat on his head and repositioned it until it was just right. It was a pretty neat hat. “And if the others don’t see that yet, give them time. They will someday.”

“You really think so?”

“Psh, I know so!” Scar reassured her. “The Hermits are the best people I’ve ever met. They’re always there for each other, always willing to help someone out when they’re in need. Sure there’s the occasional fight, the occasional grudge, but it’s all in good fun. Did you know that there once was a civil war on the server?”

Lyra raised an eyebrow. “A civil war?”

“Yeah, a huge server wide war. I wasn’t personally involved but I got to watch the whole thing go down. It started out as a series of pranks gone wrong, but it quickly devolved into something bigger than we could have ever imagined…”

And now it was Scar’s turn to tell the stories, and boy, did he have some incredible stories. She heard all about the battles of the civil war, the many misadventures of poultry man, the creation of Area 77, the fight against the hippies, and the Hermits’ most recent experiences with Demise. Lyra listened in wonder as he spoke of these wonderful things that these people constructed and wired together and collaborated on. It sounded so carefree, so fun, that Lyra wanted nothing more than to hear all about it. And Scar was a pretty good storyteller. It made her forget her troubles as she was lost in a world she had seen so much of but never truly knew. 

As he was wrapping up his story of Demise and explaining what happened to the last three men standing (Mumbo, Iskall, and Doc, two of which were dragon bros), there was a knock at the door and Aster poked her head into the room.

“The others are back, and they have Grian alive with them,” she told the two of them. “I do not believe the battle went that well. They have more people for us to heal.” More bodies. Oh boy. Lyra glanced at the ceiling with worry. They were already overwhelmed with the people they had yet to fix, this was only going to make their job harder. Aster pointed to Scar. “I told them you were up, and now they want to see you. Are you okay with this, or do you need more rest?”

“Yeah, of course I’m okay. It’ll be good to see them again.” Scar glanced at Lyra, whose face fell. “Hey, don’t worry, kid, I can finish the story later. Just remind me where we left off, and I’ll jump right back into it.” Lyra nodded enthusiastically. She would most certainly take him up on that offer. “Until then, good luck healing people. I believe in you. Oh, and I have a small request.”

“Ask away,” Lyra said. 

Scar took a deep breath and stared at one of the beds and the motionless body on top of it. “Could you… could you by any chance bring back Cubfan135 next? He’s the bearded guy in the lab coat.”

“Your partner,” Lyra whispered. “The one who started that business with you.” She closed her eyes and continued, “He was looking for you when you went missing, you know. He never stopped looking. Even when he died, he was trying to find you. He said that he hoped that if things went wrong for him and he died, he would see you on the other side.” She opened her eyes.

Scar looked taken aback. “He did? Wow. Uh, thank you. Well, as soon as he wakes up you get me, okay? You’ll let me know?” Lyra nodded, and Scar grinned. “Thanks, Lyra, you’re a pretty cool friend.” His words struck her like she was hit by Doc’s trident.  _ Friend. _ He called her a friend. Maybe there was hope for her here after all. Aster, on the other hand, entered the room and took a seat beside Lyra on the bed, her eyes full of concern. 

“Lyra, where did you hear about that last part? I never told you anything about what Cub said to Xisuma.”

Lyra suddenly realized the implications of what Aster was saying. “I… I am not sure. I just  _ knew _ that it happened. Is that crazy? That I knew that happened? I am not supposed to know that happened, my memory is gone. And I do not remember it at all, I just  _ know _ it happened.”

“Hey, hey, calm down, Lyra, no need to fret,” Aster comforted her. “I was just asking. Besides, we do not have time to puzzle over this one. We have work to do.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Guess who brought back a boy! I started watching Scar’s videos for this season and he is PRECIOUS. His giggles are the best, he terraforms beautifully, all of his collabs have been gold, and his builds just look so good. Expect more of him in the future because I stan a man. 
> 
> Operation!!!
> 
> AQUATHUNDER!!!


	25. Out of Touch

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Howdy folks, sorry updates are getting fewer and further between. Things are a little chaotic at the Cactus household, and for someone who stays at home all day doin nothin, I’m tired a lot. But!!! I’m workin hard on getting stuff written and edited!!!

Grian sat on the bed with his back against the cold stone wall, slouching, while everyone else mingled outside. He could hear their voices drift through the cracks under the sturdy spruce door, though he couldn’t make out what exactly they were saying. Catching up probably, coming up with a plan of what to do next, figuring out what they thought about Lyra and Aster. All things that didn’t necessarily involve him, so he had decided to step away from this one.

It’s not that he didn’t want to help, no, quite the opposite actually. He wanted to do everything he could to get back out there, take down EvilXisuma, and save Mumbo and Zed. However, what with his visions, what seemed like losing a very easy fight, and his fun hour being tortured by Ex, that wasn’t gonna happen. They wouldn’t let him. The others hadn’t exactly gone looking for Grian when he said he needed a few minutes to himself. In fact, the only person who talked to him at all when the team arrived at the base was Scar, and even their interaction was cut short. 

“Grian! You’re alive!” Scar had exclaimed, running up to wrap the fellow builder in a big bear hug. Grian chuckled softly and accepted the hug, wincing a little as he did so.

“Careful of the ribs, man,” he warned Scar, who promptly released him, apologizing all the while, and took a step back to give Grian some breathing room. 

“Wow, it is so good to see you awake and on your feet. Last time I saw you, you were passed out on your bed and nobody knew why.” He put his hands in his coat pocket and whistled. “Guess we know why now.”

Grian nodded. “It’s good to see you too, Scar. They told me what happened to you when I woke up, and I was worried that… I dunno. It doesn’t matter. I’m glad you’re okay. I’m assuming you—“

“SCAR!”

Both men turned to see Ren running to catch up with them. He barreled past Grian and nearly tackled Scar with the force of his sprint, which promptly sent the two of them into fits of giggles as Ren and Scar quickly filled each other in on the crazy past few hours they’d had. Realizing that his presence was no longer needed, and if he was going to talk to Scar, he had to do it when the hype died down a little, Grian mumbled a quick goodbye and headed to the closest room to take a few deep breaths to gather himself. 

A small room with a couple of beds and disorganized chests in it. A starter living space for two people who were unfamiliar with the game mechanics and needed time and space to prepare. Grian was sitting in Lyra and Ex’s bedroom. Wonderful. He closed his eyes and focused on his breathing once again.

_ Creeeeeak. _

Grian’s eyes snapped open and he drew his sword from his hotbar, pointing it in the direction of the noise. A  _ very _ startled Aster in the doorway jumped back a little. Recognizing the person in front of him and silently reminding himself that he was in a safe place and didn’t need to be so paranoid anymore, Grian smiled wearily at the computer girl.

“Oh, hello, Aster. Come on in. Didn’t mean to startle you,” he chuckled nervously, waving her over and putting aside his sword. 

She softly shut the door behind her and took a seat on the bed opposite him. “When the others could not tell me where you were I figured I should seek you out. Forgive my asking, but why are you not out there with them? You seem like a social person, but you are isolating yourself. It seems odd.”

Of course she’d notice. How could she  _ not _ notice? She was a frickin computer who was probably even more paranoid than he was, what with her and her sister’s lives constantly on the line. Of course Aster would notice he was gone and go looking for him. But that was fine, he was okay with the company as long as she didn’t ask too many questions. Grian sighed deeply. “I needed some time to think. Is that a crime?”

“I see.” She tapped her fingers on the bedpost gently, as if she was nervous about something. From the look on her face and the tension in her shoulders, Grian could tell she was holding something back. Interesting. As much as he didn’t want to answer any probing questions, it was even worse to have her eyeing him like that. Like there was something wrong with him. 

“Listen, Aster, we may not know each other super well, but I think in light of recent events and all, you can say whatever’s on your mind,” he snapped, just wanting her to get it over with already. “Even if you think it’s indelicate or that I’m gonna be upset with you or whatever’s keeping you from saying what you want to say. Believe you me, that’s not gonna happen.”

“Alright then,” she began cautiously. “I heard from Xisuma that you did not have a death message in chat. When the others left, they were saying something about you being lost, not dead. Which is a good thing, do not get me wrong, I am so glad you are okay. And then they brought you back alive and well, and I suppose I was a little concerned. I would like to know what happened.” Beat. “Did EvilXisuma get to you?”

He took a shaky breath. “Yes.”

“I figured that might be the case,” Aster muttered to herself. “Do you want to talk about it?”

“No.”

Another awkward silence. He was starting to get oddly used to this weird form of discomfort. Finally, Grian decided to say something. Something that had been nagging at him ever since he got rescued. It was small, probably nothing, but he needed to know.

“You didn’t tell them I told you about Lyra. Why?”

Aster ducked her head. “I did not want to drag you into it. Nobody was happy with my decision, which makes sense. I lied to them, I went behind their backs, and I released their enemy into the world with no punishment for her actions. I figured that since it was ultimately my choice and my choice alone, it was silly to get you involved.”

“Huh,” Grian mused to himself, running his fingers through his fringe to brush back the hair that fell into his eyes. “It would’ve been so much easier for you to throw me under the bus. You know that, right?”

Aster smirked. “If you have not noticed, I rarely do things the easy way.”

“You and me both.”

Grian turned away and watched some water drip from the ceiling into a puddle on the floor. It was awkward having the two most messed up people on the server in the same room together, trying to talk about what was happening to them without actually talking about what happened to them. He knew Aster was just trying to connect with him. She was doing her best to be there for him despite being part of the reason why he was in this situation in the first place. Maybe that was why she was trying so hard, to make up for it. Or she just wanted a friend outside of her memory-wiped sister and the ever present and always optimistic Keralis, who were great people, but didn’t understand her pain the way he did. 

Might as well give her something to work with and get something off his chest while he was at it. It wasn’t like anyone other than her would understand, anyways. 

“Maybe I do want to talk about it,” Grian confessed.

Aster perked up. “Oh? Well, as they say, I am all ears.”

“EvilXisuma tortured me,” he told her, picking at the fuzz and dirt on his sweater. Might as well come right out and say it. No use sugarcoating it, no use hiding it. “He wanted to know what everyone was up to, what they were planning. And I told him. I told him everything. I know I shouldn’t have, but I did.” He took a shaky breath. “I told him about our attack on Lyra. I told him about the teams. I told him… I told him where Mumbo was.”

Aster picked up the blanket resting on her bed and draped it around Grian’s shoulders. Only then did he realize how much he was shaking. It wasn’t from the cold (though now that he thought about it, it  _ was _ kind of cold) but he appreciated the gesture nonetheless. As he pulled the blanket tighter around him, he continued, “I keep thinking, you know, if I had stuck it out a little bit longer, if I had resisted him for like a few minutes more, they would still be alive and safe. If maybe I had let him kill me or even found a way to kill myself, that would have been better for everybody.”

“Grian, do not say that,” Aster replied calmly, her tone soothing and soft. “You being alive is very important to us. The people here care about you.”

“And they care about Mumbo. And Stress. And Zedaph and Joe and Cleo.” Grian shook his head sadly. “My life was not worth five other people’s, Aster. I mean, look at me, I’m a mess! I’ve been nothing but useless this whole time! I’ve had visions that put me at risk, I got you in trouble with the Lyra thing, I lost a fight that I shouldn’t have because I was too weak to keep fighting, and I betrayed the few friends I had left. Aster, I should be lying in that room over there, not any of them!  _ They _ didn’t deserve what I did to them,  _ I  _ do.”

There, he said it. How he felt like a complete screw up. And despite how hard he tried to convince himself that he wasn’t to blame for what happened, how much he told himself that Ex was the bad guy, in the end he couldn’t shake the feeling that he was a problem. A liability. He had failed some of his friends, doomed others, and everyone else was just dead. And those who were alive now were probably gonna die soon. 

Aster looked at Grian with shared sorrow in her eyes. She looked almost unsure, as if she didn’t know whether to console him or pity him or try to give him an answer. Not that it would do much good either way. He didn’t need words of encouragement or a solution to all his problems even if there were any. He just needed someone to listen. Someone open minded to hear what he had to say and not judge him for it. 

“Grian, I have no idea how you must be feeling right now,” Aster began quietly. “How can I? I have never been in your situation, I do not have friends like yours, I am not even alive. But I know from watching other people, from seeing what they feel and what they do, that the feelings you have right now, they are valid.” Grian scoffed, and she leaned forward and placed her hands on his knees to get his attention. “No, I am serious. I will not tell you what you should feel or what you should do because I do not know. But you will get through this, I promise you that. These things that worry you, that hurt you, they will go away with time. And nobody here blames you for what you did. Honestly, in your shoes, all of us would have probably done the same thing. Xisuma understands, Iskall understands, and I may not know Mumbo that well, but I am sure he would understand too.”

More silence as he processed what she said, trying to decide whether or not to let himself believe it.

“Just tell me this at least,” he breathed. “Was it worth it?” Aster tilted her head, confused. “Was it worth it to bring Lyra back? Are you happy with what you did? Is it everything you thought it would be?”

Aster nodded and smiled softly. 

“Good. At least… at least there’s that.”

***

Mumbo swam in and out of consciousness, his thoughts rolling around in his brain like a spilled bag of marbles. Bumping around, too fast, too small, too slippery to catch hold of. Plus, he had a pounding headache, which didn’t make things any easier. The same kind of headache he got when he woke up after he… died.

_ “Leave us alone, you  _ _ freak _ _!” _

_ “Stress, NO!” _

He died. He died? Mumbo groaned softly and tried to sit up, but he suddenly fell ill and his head began to spin. He quickly laid back down, fearing that if he tried to do that any longer, he’d pass out. Then he’d be no good to anybody. 

_ “Stress! Stress, can you hear me? What have you done to her?” _

_ “The same thing I’m going to do to you.” _

Memories, traces of something that happened some time ago, swarmed in his mind. He was in the bunker with Stress and Zed, he was watching the cameras, looking out for EvilXisuma… 

_ “No, wait, put him down! Stop hurting him!” _

_ “What’s this?” _

_ “Zed, no, RUN!” _

_ “I can’t leave you here. Let him GO!” _

His hand flew to his throat, though he knew there wouldn’t be anything there anymore. He was being choked, he remembered that. EvilX had killed Stress and then came for him, and he had lost that fight pretty badly, unfortunately. Mumbo was the worst at pvp. Zed had come out from his hiding spot then, trying to either fight or bargain for his life, Mumbo had no idea which. He should have run, he should have listened to Mumbo. Now he was… oh, god, what happened to him?

_ “You want me to spare your friend, Zedaph? How sweet. How adorable.” _

_ “Let him go, please, let’s talk about this. You can have me instead, you can… just please, let him go, don’t kill him.” _

_ “Don’t do this! Get out of here while you still--” _

_ “Hmm, I might be willing to spare your friend’s life.” _

_ “Thank you, thank you, I-- Please, no, you said you wouldn’t-- no, Mumbo, NO!” _

_ “But I’m not letting him go.” _

_ Shnnk! _

A sword. Of course it was a sword, it was always a sword. When everything stopped feeling like it was spinning, Mumbo slowly opened his eyes to get a better look at his surroundings. Complete and utter crushing darkness met his eyes. Nice. What’s better than dying and waking up in a completely unfamiliar place? Especially one you couldn’t even navigate, let alone see? Oh boy, this was bad, this was  _ really  _ bad.

Mumbo sat up, then stood up, then started to walk forward with his hands out in front of him, looking for a wall or a door or something to let him know his position in this place. He only got forward a few paces before his hands collided with something cold, smooth, and in a criss-crossing pattern. Iron bars by the feel of it. He made his way around, running his hand along the iron bars until it collided with the stone wall. Iron bars in a cave. So he was in prison! Even better!

“I’m going to go absolutely bonkers in here,” Mumbo whispered to himself. 

He heard movement from somewhere distantly in front of him. 

“Who’s there? Answer me: who’s there?” his voice shook.

“Mumbo?” a familiar voice called out, their tone gravelly with disuse.

He breathed a sigh of relief. “Zed, oh my god, Zedaph, thank the heavens it’s you.”

“You died, I saw you die and then I died and I thought that was it for us,” Zed explained. His voice was panicked, as if he was on the same edge of insanity that Mumbo was finding himself on. “But now I’m here, and you’re here too and I am very confused. Where are we exactly?”

Mumbo glanced around the room, hoping that his eyes would adjust somewhat, but he still couldn’t really make out anything. He even knew that the iron bars were in front of his face, he could  _ feel _ them, but despite all that, he couldn’t see them. “I have no idea.”

“Why are we alive?” Zedaph whimpered. “Ex killed us, we died just like everyone else out there, but we’re alive. And we’re clearly not at Sahara or some sort of new home base. If we were, we wouldn’t be in these cells. This isn’t the work of our guys.” He tried to reason his way through the situation, trying to come up with some sort of explanation for all of this, but only coming to the same empty conclusion Mumbo had already reached.

“Yeah I figured that much.” Mumbo sighed and ran his fingers up and down the bars, looking for missing chunks or weak points in the wall in front of him. Anything he could use to his advantage to break free. As calmly as he could muster, he continued, “I’m already working on trying to find a way out. Just stay where you are, see if you can find a gap or a light, and try not to panic. This will be fine, we will be fine as long as we keep our heads on our shoulders and  _ not _ panic.” Silence. “Zed?”

“Not panic. Got it. Yep. Not panicking.”

“Zed.”

“What? I’m not panicking! You told me not to panic and I’m not panicking! I’m doing what you asked, lay off.”

Zedaph wouldn’t have been able to see, even if he had been awake longer and his eyes had more time to adjust, but Mumbo rolled his eyes in disbelief. “Another thing: keep it down. The last thing we want is him hearing us and coming in to check in on us as we’re escaping.”

“Are we going to die here?” Zed asked.

“Believe me,” Mumbo scoffed, “if he wanted us dead we’d be lying in the bunker next to Stress right about now. No, he wants us for something, and I’m not sticking around long enough to find out.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In case you’re wondering, the ending is not super far away. There shall be resolution! Pinky promise!


	26. Reconnecting and Redefining

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HOLY CRAP!!!! I leave for like not even a week and we’re over 1000 hits!!! Hello everybody! Seriously though, a huge thank you to everyone who read my writing, left kudos, and/or commented. This story and you guys mean a lot to me, and so far it’s been a blast. I love getting to hear your responses and interact with you when I can. Lots of love!!!! <3 <3 <3

Xisuma paced about the room, scanning his logs for any disturbances, desperate to find something he could hold onto. Where on earth could Ex be hiding? It made no sense for him to be flying this far under the radar. Ex was not a subtle man. When he wanted to cause problems — as he most often did — it was usually with explosions or fighting or some grand gesture to prove how powerful he was. Never with careful planning and hiding. He was proud, he was ruthless, and he caused disturbances with enough theatrics to put on a one man show. What had happened to him since they had last seen each other? It was like any trace of his brother had disappeared, leaving a cold, heartless monster in its place. 

Thankfully, now that Scar was awake, they had the codes for the Concorp drones, so that was an advantage. When Xisuma returned to see Scar fully conscious and healthy, he was absolutely overjoyed. Things had been so bad. They had been so horribly bad for so long that he needed a win. They _all_ needed a win. And Scar’s safety was that win. After a quick debrief by Xisuma about what happened since his death (apparently he, Lyra, and Aster had caught up a bit already) Scar offered up the drones to look for Ex while they were stuck here. He logged in and taught Iskall a little bit about how to operate them before heading off to speak to Grian and run a little errand for X while he was at it. Barely awake for thirty minutes, and he was already trying his best to be helpful.

It was so good to have Scar back. 

Aster had actually come to talk to him too during that time. Not to gloat about her success but more so to emphasize her sister’s. She didn’t really need to give updates on Lyra’s progress anymore, Xisuma understood the situation and accepted it for the most part, but it was nice hearing her talk about how proud she was that Lyra had helped her heal and made amends with Scar. Xisuma couldn’t bring himself to stop her when she smiled that much. 

“This is going to go much faster than I previously thought it would,” Aster explained. “Having two people heal is surprisingly effective. I suppose it makes sense in hindsight, but still it is remarkable how quickly it took to bring Scar back when she worked with me.”

Xisuma nodded. “That’s good to hear. So what’s next then?”

“Well, Lyra made a promise to heal Cub next, so as soon as we do that, I am not sure,” Aster replied. “This is going to sound horrible, but who do you want us to heal next? I suppose if we are taking requests now, you would know better than anyone who we will require for the coming fight.”

She did have a point with that one: it didn’t sound nice when you said it out loud. You get to choose to save a handful of your friends from death. Everyone gets saved in the end, but some get to be saved faster than others. All based on how useful they are in a fight. There were some obvious choices and less obvious choices but when he tried making a list in his head, he couldn’t help but feel just that, horrible. He would need some time to figure it all out. “Let me get back to you on that.”

Aster nodded understandingly and walked away to get back to work. 

Since then, barring a few newsless updates from Iskall and a little bit of empty small talk from Keralis, Xisuma spent his time alone. Going through the files, doing what he could. But it was pointless, wasn’t it? Whatever Ex was doing, he was doing in hiding. He didn’t want to be found so he wasn’t going to be. Something inside of X wanted to chuck his communicator against the wall and watch it smash into a million pieces just so he wouldn’t have to think about everything anymore. But he needed that communicator and he needed to think about everything, so he refrained from doing that.

Light footsteps from behind him interrupted his self destructive train of thought, and he prepared himself for pretending to be optimistic in the face of trouble. Then he turned and saw Lyra, smiling nervously, and he exhaled with relief. Finally, someone who didn’t expect something from him.

“Scar said you wanted to see me,” Lyra stated plainly. 

“Yeah. Yeah, I did.” 

Silence, as the two of them just stared at each other.

“So,” Lyra said, “ _why_ did you want to see me?”

Xisuma silently cursed himself for not being more welcoming. It just felt a little weird still, seeing their enemy standing in front of him like that. _Former_ enemy. His mistake. “Sorry, I just, ok, um _here_.” He pulled up the chair that Ren had made for him. Lyra eyed the chair with suspicion, and Xisuma patted the seat to show it was okay. “I just want to talk to you, it’s nothing bad. I thought we could catch up and clear the air a little.” 

Lyra sat down. “Okay, I suppose I can for a little while, but I really should be getting back to work soon. Aster needs my help.”

“Will do. This won’t take long, I promise,” he told her. She relaxed a little and looked up at him expectantly, so he began, “I would like to preface this by apologizing. When you first woke up after Aster erased your memory, I know I didn’t treat you very nicely and that wasn’t fair of me.”

“I do not blame you,” Lyra replied. “From what I have heard, I did a lot of bad stuff. You do not need to apologize for your actions or excuse my own. What is done is done, and there is nothing we can do about it now.”

“I _do_ need to apologize, Lyra. Because I don’t want you leaving here thinking there is no redemption, that players don’t forgive,” he explained. “We do forgive, and we help out those who need it, and here on the Hermitcraft server we may have our struggles, but we always stick together. And for a very long time, I thought that meant that I had to protect them and them alone.” Lyra tilted her head in confusion. “I guess what I’m trying to say is: you and your sister may not be Hermits, but we’re here for you too. And it was wrong of me to ever behave otherwise.”

Lyra looked concerned for a moment, as if there was something she wanted to say but couldn’t figure out how. Then, she took a deep breath, let it go, and relaxed once again. “Thank you, Xisuma, that means a lot that you would say that,” she said warmly. 

“Of course.” Xisuma smiled.

“I do have a question, though, and you can choose to not answer it if you are uncomfortable.”

He raised an eyebrow. “Go ahead.”

“Ex, the guy who everyone is afraid of,” she began, looking at the floor, “is he your brother?”

“Yeah, he is.”

“Huh.” Lyra closed her eyes. “He would never say it, but he misses you. He misses you two being together, having fun, causing a little bit of mischief. I always suspected that he did not want you dead, just like how I never wanted Aster dead. There is a bond between you. Even if you cannot see it, it is still there. If he did want you gone, it is only because he is trying too hard to cut ties with everything that still hurts him.” She opened her eyes. 

“What-- what do you mean by that?” Xisuma stammered, a little shaken by what she had to say.

Suddenly, as if just realizing what she had said, Lyra’s eyes widened and she gripped the seat of her chair to steady herself. “I-- I have no idea.”

Xisuma knelt down to be at her eye level. “Is there anything else you can think of about Ex? Anything at all? What he might be planning? Where he would be if he wasn’t here?”

“No, I do not even remember what he looks like, what he talks like, I have no idea what he would be planning. My memory… things have been coming back but not really. It has not happened for very long.” She looked up at him in fear. “I promise I am loyal. I do not mean to hurt anyone. I just want to help Aster and help you and try to figure this all out. I am not on his side, I swear.”

“I know, I believe you, don’t worry,” Xisuma reassured her. Shoot, he didn’t mean to scare the poor girl. He really did want her to know he believed her, that’s why he called this meeting in the first place: to make sure Lyra knew that she was okay. “I know this is new and scary and you’re doing your best. Just, if you remember anything helpful, anything at all, let me know, okay?”

“Okay…” Beat. “Can I leave now?”

***

Just a little more… just a little longer… 

Mumbo had been punching, pulling, and kicking at the iron bars closest to the wall for a solid ten minutes by now, doing his best to quietly break out of his prison cell. What he thought would be an easy task ended up being a whole lot of him pathetically hitting the wall, getting exhausted after every move, and generally missing having his tools on him. Since he died and respawned, all of his stuff had fallen out of his inventory and most likely despawned in the demise bunker. And since there wasn’t any wood in either of their cells, Mumbo couldn’t craft any new ones. So instead of a pickaxe to get rid of the bars, all he had was his bloodied fist and Zedaph cheering him on from the opposite end of the room. 

“Mumbo Jumbo, he's our man, if he can’t do it, no one can!” Zed giggled to himself. Glad to see that Zedaph was keeping his head up despite the circumstances, especially considering how close he was to a panic attack less than an hour before. As much as Mumbo wanted to snap at him to keep it down, he restrained himself, not wanting to ruin the guy’s fun. 

Mumbo heard jostling from Zedaph’s side, and he raised his head to see the dark, blurry outline of the fellow Hermit standing up and holding the cell bars. At least some of his sight had adjusted to the dark. “How much longer do you reckon those bars will last? I swear you’ve been pounding at them for hours.”

“I don’t know,” Mumbo honestly replied, grabbing onto the bars right above the ones he was working on so he could kick at them. Leg force was stronger than arm force after all. And punching iron didn’t do much good in the long run. “Probably a few more minutes. I’m feeling them give, but then again, that might just be me being hopeful.”

“Ok, just hurry up. We don’t know how long we have until he—“

He was cut off as a block somewhere beside them broke, and the cave lit up with a blinding white light. Zedaph hissed. Mumbo flinched and covered his eyes, abandoning the iron bars that he spent so much time working on. All that time wasted for nothing. 

The light in the room dimmed a little as a figure stepped through the makeshift doorway, covering up the exit as he did so and plunging the room once again into crushing darkness. Mumbo’s head felt a little frazzled from the sudden shift in brightness. Lucky for them, the figure started placing torches around the cave they were trapped in, shedding some more reasonable light on their surroundings. Mumbo was in a prison cell alright, made up of a small alcove in the cave wall and some iron bars keeping him from getting out. Directly in front of him, in a similar setup, stood Zedaph, his hair muddy, his pant legs slightly damp from kneeling on the cave floor, and his brown sweater torn in a few places. Fortunately, Zedaph himself seemed relatively unharmed since his respawning. 

Which was probably about to change, considering their company.

“EvilXisuma,” Mumbo spat.

“Why does everyone feel like saying my name like that?” he asked, throwing his hands in the air. “Of course it’s me, you idiot, who else would it be? And if you haven’t gotten the memo, it’s not EvilXisuma anymore. I never really liked that name. It reminded me too much of _him_. The brother who locked me up and always thought he was better than me. It’s Ex now.” The villain smirked triumphantly, which only caused Mumbo to frown even more. 

“Ok, _EvilXisuma_ ,” Zed taunted him, which wiped the smirk right off his face. “What’s the grand plan, huh? Where’s the big old villain speech where you reveal your tragic backstory and tell us what you’re gonna do about it now? Come on, lay it on us. We aren’t getting any younger here.”

“My plan,” Ex narrowed his eyes, “doesn’t involve you, you insolent fool, so do us all a favor and _shut up_.” He turned to Mumbo. “Instead, it involves him.”

“Me?” Mumbo asked, surprised. “What could you possibly want from me? And what makes you think I’ll do it for you?”

Ex chuckled and kicked at some loose rocks on the floor. “You are the famed Mumbo Jumbo, a technical genius. I’ve heard tales of what you are capable of during my time in the world between worlds. Hell, I’ve seen some of it for myself during my brief moments on the server. Your reputation precedes you.”

“I’m flattered, but I don’t see why you would need any help with redstone,” Mumbo admitted, eyeing Ex cautiously. “Aren’t you all about burning the server and committing mass homicide? I make witch farms and safety doors and contraptions. Why would you possibly want my help?”

“You sell yourself short, Mumbo.” Ex stepped closer towards the cell, so that he was eye to eye with the redstoner. Mumbo couldn’t help but feel a little intimidated. After all, this was the man who killed his friends and kidnapped him. If he wanted to stay alive, he needed to be very careful about things. “Your contraptions are exactly what I need to carry out my plans.” Ex took out a pickaxe and broke the iron bars holding Mumbo captive, and he hesitated for a moment before stepping outside.

“You see,” Ex continued, grabbing Mumbo firmly by the shoulders and leading him to an empty open space in the cave, “I need you to build me a computer. A computer I can use to access the code of this server, the behind the scenes work if you will, so I can see the things my brother can see. I have a feeling that if anyone can figure it out, it would be you.” He patted Mumbo’s shoulder. 

Mumbo shook his hands off his shoulders, suddenly very uncomfortable with the touching. “No! I would never!” he blurted out. “If you have access to that kind of stuff, you’ll be just as powerful as Xisuma if not more. You’ll be able to mess with the server, and you’ll use it to hurt the rest of my friends. Well, I’m not going to let you hurt my friends any more. I’m not going to be the one that gives you the flint and steel to burn the freaking server down!”

Ex huffed and crossed his arms. “If you don’t comply, there will be consequences.”

“So what? Hurt me, kill me, it doesn’t matter!” Mumbo shouted. “I’d rather die than let you hurt them. I will never assist you, no matter what your stupid consequences are!” Plus, if he died, Ex would have to find a new redstoner to do his bidding. And that would make him vulnerable. Not to mention the fact that it would give Aster and Xisuma more time to find them, more time to heal everyone, more time to gather their forces and find Ex’s weakness once and for all. What was one more body in the grand scheme of things? As much as he feared being dead, he feared what Ex needed that computer for much more. 

Ex laughed, a deep menacing sound that made Mumbo second guess himself a little. “What’s so funny?” Mumbo snapped. “I’m not giving you what you want.”

“Mumbo, Mumbo, Mumbo,” Ex teased, slowly walking over to Zedaph’s cell. The blonde man inside scampered backwards, not wanting to be anywhere near Ex. “I knew you were going to deny me. In fact, I was counting on it. Just like your little friend Grian, you think you can stand up to me, you think it matters whether you fight back or not. Everyone has a weakness, Mumbo, you just need to find out what theirs is and use it against him. Grian has a surprisingly low pain tolerance, for starters.” 

_Low pain tolerance?_ He tortured Grian. Of course, that makes perfect sense! That’s why the death message didn’t pop up in chat, because Grian never died. After he made that connection, Mumbo was suddenly hit with the gravity of the situation. Grian was tortured. He had to watch his friends die, then he was tortured for information. Information about the bunker. Oh god, this was much worse than he thought. And, knowing Grian, if he survived the attack he was probably beating himself up about it right about now. All Mumbo wanted was to be able to see Grian, just for a moment, so he could hug his friend and let him know it was alright. 

“What happened to him? What did you do to him once he told you what he knew?” 

“I left him as a warning to the others,” Ex sneered, tilting up his head. “Hopefully, they get the message.” He ran his fingers along the iron bars of Zedaph’s cell. “But enough about him, been there, done that. Let’s talk about you. I will ask you one more time: will you build me my computer?”

“Never in a million years.”

“Good.” Ex broke the bars of the cell, grabbed Zed by the hair, and dragged him outside as he kicked and protested. 

“Wait, what are you doing? Let him go, he has no part in this!” Mumbo shouted. Ex only laughed in reply. “I swear to god if you hurt him, I’ll—“

“You’ll what? Huh? Because as I see it, the only thing you are in control of here is the fate of your friend,” Ex growled, lifting Zedaph into the air, causing him to cry out in pain. Mumbo started forward before realizing that he would be doing more harm than good if he did so. “Yes, Mumbo, everyone has a weakness. And yours, just like most of you pesky Hermits, is your friends. Do what I ask, or I hurt him, understand? It’s your choice.”

“Mumbo, it’s okay.” Zed winced from Ex pulling his hair. “You don’t have to do this.”

Ex drew his sword and pressed it against Zedaph’s neck, which silenced him immediately and emphasized his point. Quite literally, as a matter of fact. Mumbo couldn’t help Ex. He just couldn’t. But he couldn’t stand by and watch Zedaph get tortured, get murdered, all because he told Ex no. There was no winning here. Possibilities swarmed through his head, options, ways to escape, ways to fight. But nothing could possibly work, there was no way to get out of here alive. There were only two options here and—

Suddenly, something occurred to him. A plan. A plan so outlandish that there was a very slim chance of it working. A plan so genius that if he managed to get it right, they’d never call him a spoon again. But it would require a lot of work, a lot of luck, and much more time than he had to plan. But what did he have to lose? 

Well, his life, Zed’s life, the lives of everyone on the server, probably Aster and Lyra’s lives too. Oh man, he’d better get this right. 

“Okay, I’ll do it. But I’ll need some redstone, my communicator, and his help.” Mumbo nodded to Zedaph, who shook his head in disbelief. He didn’t really need him to follow through with his plan. It involved complicated redstone and a lot of technical work that he wasn’t sure Zedaph would entirely understand. But he couldn’t let Ex think Zed was useless, not after everything they’d done together. Mumbo couldn’t let him die. “After all, two heads are better than one.”

Ex smirked. “Good, very good.”

If only he knew what Mumbo had planned. He wouldn’t be so smug then. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here’s to the stories already told and those yet to come!


	27. Plan B

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Writing chapters? Hard. Writing unique chapter titles that somehow tie in everything that’s going on in the chapter because you made the executive decision to do that back when you still had ideas? HARDER.

So yeah, that’s the problem we’re running into here,” Iskall explained to Scar, gesturing towards the bright screens of camera footage and the static ones where the cameras were destroyed during the battles. “Half of Concorp’s security system is down, while the other half is focused on people’s bases, and Ex isn’t hiding in people’s bases, that’s for sure.”

Scar nodded in understanding. “Okay, so what’s next?”

Iskall rubbed the back of his neck. “Well, here’s the thing: Ren was getting a little sick of being stuck here, so I sent him out to collect the broken cameras in the shopping district. I figured if Cub wakes up anytime soon, he’ll be able to fix them. I can try, but it’s not Sahara technology, so probably not,” he chuckled to himself. 

“Yeah, it’s probably _far_ too advanced for your simple Architech mind to comprehend,” Scar shot back, clapping him on the shoulder in mock friendliness and grinning. Iskall shook his head, but he was smiling too. Even in the midst of this whole mess, there was still the age-old “friendly” competition between Concorp and Sahara. Good to know that in the midst of danger some things never change. But then, something occurred to Scar that wiped the grin right off his face.

“Wait, so you just sent Ren out there?” Scar asked, concerned. “Alone?”

Iskall turned back to the screens. “He’s hardly alone. Keralis is with him.”

“Oh my— Iskall! You can’t just put them in danger like that! We don’t need the cameras _that_ much. Does Xisuma know where they are? Does Aster know?”

“Xisuma does.” Iskall sighed and whirled around in his swivel seat to face the builder. ”Scar, you do realize that Ren and Keralis understand the dangers here, right? They know what’s out there, and they’re being careful. I told them that if they happen to see him, they can’t try and fight him. Which both of them completely understand. And besides, while EvilX probably has an elytra by now, chances are he doesn’t know how to use it.”

“I guess you’re right,” Scar mumbled to himself, still pretty sure Iskall was wrong about that last point. “Just keep in contact with them. They’re going into an area we can’t see, so if something happens to them, we won’t be able to know unless they tell us. Call them if you have to, just make sure you know what’s going on.” He took a deep breath. “I don’t wanna lose any more of my friends.”

“Believe me, neither do I.”

Ren and Keralis, heading out into the shopping district, alone. An area they were familiar with, but an area _he_ was familiar with too. And while Scar wasn’t awake for the battle, he saw the carnage. He knew what EvilXisuma was capable of. He had just gotten his communicator back, he didn’t want his first message on it to be the news of their deaths. 

Scar made up some excuse about needing to be somewhere and walked away from the computers, wanting to take a few minutes to clear his head and not think about the danger his friends were in for once. Thinking about it only made him anxious for them to just come back already, and if he was anxious, he wouldn’t be able to focus on any other task that needed to be done. And there were a LOT of tasks that needed to be done. Fixing the cameras, preparing for an attack, locating Mumbo and Zedaph, talking to Lyra--

“Scar, Scar, that you buddy?”

Scar stopped dead in his tracks, the voice catching him off guard. Lyra actually followed through with her promise. Of course she did, she had no reason not to, but still. He took a shaky breath, made a mental note to hug Lyra when he saw her next, and turned around to see Cubfan standing just a little ways away. His shirt and lab coat were torn in some places and his eyes seemed sunken and tired. Other than that, he appeared to be just fine. Well, physically, at least, Scar couldn't really speak for the rest of him. The expression Cub wore on his face was comparable to someone seeing a ghost for the first time, which made sense. To him, Scar was a ghost. 

“Hey, Cub,” Scar choked out. “Long time, no see, huh?”

Cub took a few careful steps forward and reached his hand out, as if not entirely convinced that Scar was real. He touched Scar’s arm and looked up in bewilderment, and Scar couldn’t help but laugh a little at how strange everything was. A few weeks ago, Scar seeing Cub was a normal, everyday occurrence. Now, it was everything. 

“Come on, man,” Scar chuckled. “It’s me. I’m okay.”

“Just checking,” Cub replied, a bit embarrassed but mostly relieved. “Scar, what _happened_ to you? I got your messages and tried to find you, but by the time I found your communicator, you were already… gone.”

Scar cringed a little at the reminder of the series of events that led to his death. “Well, you know how I found Lyra and Bdubs’ hideout? Apparently, they needed my experience or death or something to open a portal that I suppose was used to free EvilXisuma. Considering I died, Bdubs is currently dead, and Lyra lost her memory, nobody’s _really_ sure what happened, but from what we’ve pieced together, that’s the story. Weird, isn’t it?”

“Eh, I believe it. And it didn’t get any more normal since then from what I’ve heard.” Cub shook his head in disbelief. “Aster with Keralis the whole time. Lyra’s evil but she’s not now. Massive battles. Tons of casualties. EvilX back from the ban. Xisuma and those girls supposedly being the only ones who can save us. It’s crazy. Absolutely crazy.” He clapped his hands together and attempted to change the subject. “Well, I’ve _also_ been told that the security system’s down for the most part thanks to a certain recolored doom guy and that Iskall’s manning the drones. Knowing those Sahara boys, he’s about ten seconds away from driving those things into a tree. They’ve got absolutely no appreciation for all our hard work, I tell ya.”

“Yeah…” Scar trailed off, suddenly remembering something as Cub spoke. 

He hadn’t forgotten what Lyra had told him, back when he had just woken up and just before he had left to catch up with everyone. For some reason, it stuck with him. Maybe it was the intensity of her words, maybe it was the implications of her remembering nothing except that exact moment. It was part of the reason why he was so desperate to see Cub after everything, why he asked them to bring him back next, though that decision shouldn’t really have been up to him. And maybe it was also why Lyra listened to him and fulfilled his request. 

“Hey, Cub?”

“Yep?”

“Lyra told me that you kept looking for me, after I died, that is,” he began. “It sounded like while everyone else wanted to keep moving, you went back for me, and it got you killed. She said that to the end, you never gave up.” Cub nodded, looking mildly uncomfortable with the topic for some reason. _Better hurry it up then_. “I guess, for what it’s worth, I just wanted to say thank you. Thanks for not giving up on me. And I’m sorry that--”

“What could you possibly be sorry for?” Cub interrupted him. “You didn’t do anything wrong.”

“Well, I didn’t stay with you, for starters,” Scar replied, dancing around the subject a little bit. He began counting out the following on his fingers. “I didn’t listen to everyone when they told me to stop doing detective work, I didn’t bring you the food I promised to bring you…”

“You think I care about that at all? You think I ever cared about any of that?” Scar shrugged, and Cub continued, “I know what you’re trying to say, and it’s that you’re sorry you dragged me into this mess, but that’s not true. Scar, I went looking for you because you’re my _friend_. I would do anything for you, and I know you’d do the same for me. Admittedly, we’re a little self-destructive that way, but hey, at least we’ve got each other’s backs. It’s more than you can say for some people.” Cub wrapped his arm around Scar’s shoulders and led him back towards Iskall. “Ren and Keralis should be back by now. So no more worrying about the past, we have a drone to pilot and some cameras to fix!”

***

“What were you _thinking_? Are you _stupid_?” Zedaph whispered while carrying a shulker full of redstone over to where Mumbo was wiring the computer. He glanced around to make sure EvilXisuma wasn’t nearby. The creepy guy had left to gather supplies about twenty minutes ago — for what exactly, Zed didn’t know — and he hadn’t returned yet. There was no telling where he could be now, so it was best to be careful and not take any chances. “Agreeing to this plan, building a weapon that could destroy life on the server as we know it… Mumbo, my life was not worth everyone else’s, including ours!”

“Will you shut it for one minute?” Mumbo shot back, poking his head out from behind the makeshift computer. Though, admittedly, it was less of a computer and more of a mess of redstone components, iron, and wool. “Zed, I know what I’m doing. I have a plan.”

Zed crossed his arms. “Really. You have a plan? So tell me, what is this ‘grand plan’ of yours, hmm? Giving in to the enemy? Because that’s what it looks like from over here!”

“Is it that hard to just believe in me?” Mumbo sighed, wedging himself back into the back of the computer. He reached out his hand, Zed handed him a pouch of redstone dust, and the redstoner disappeared entirely into the contraption once again. “We both know we’re no match against EvilX. He massacred most of our friends, defeated both of us once before, and as far as I know, Xisuma’s the only one who can get rid of him. If we’re gonna help our friends and save the server, we’ll need to be— have any torches on hand?” Zed nodded and tossed him a few. “Awesome, thanks. As I was saying, we’ll need to be smart. I’m wiring this thing specifically to not work as intended, but I have to make it convincing. Not only that, but my communicator’s out of battery, and I need it to charge a little so we can send a message out to the others.”

“Huh, that might actually work.” Zedaph whistled to himself, pulling out more bags of redstone just in case Mumbo asked.

Mumbo chuckled from inside the machine. “Just needs to distract him long enough until we can get help. I’ve done something like this once before, back when I was a part of team STAR, if you recall.”

“Ah yes, the civil war. I heard my fair share of tales from that time. Didn’t that end horribly for you?” Zed asked. “Like weren’t you a mole and they found you out when you did that?”

“Ugh, don’t remind me. Grian already won’t let me forget it.”

Silence, then Mumbo poked his head out again. This time, the man was covered in a thin layer of redstone dust all over his hands, hair, white dress shirt (which was looking rather pink now) and mustache. 

“I think that everything’s in place for the tricky part of this. At the very least, if I connect my communicator to this, it should charge,” he said, dragging himself out of the computer for hopefully the last time. He clapped his hands together and a cloud of redstone dust erupted into the air. “Now for the easy part. Zedaph, want to help me come up with a trap for EvilX that is both embarrassing and effective?”

Zed’s eyes lit up with glee. “More than _anything_.”

***

Why was it that every time Xisuma called a meeting there seemed to be less and less people to meet with? As he looked out over the silent and somber faces, counting each one to make sure they were all there, he was made painfully aware of how many of them weren’t present. It was as if he could see the ghostly afterimage of each of his friends who were supposed to be sitting there with him, haunting him, reminding him of what they had already lost and what more they still had to lose. 

Enough of that, back to attendance.

“Aster and Lyra should be here in a moment,” Xisuma announced to the crowd. “When they get back, we’ll get started then.”

Why had he called this meeting? Simple. While he was working with Cub, Scar, and Iskall to get the camera system back up and the drones running smoothly, Xisuma received a chat from someone whom he probably least expected a chat from. It was just a set of coordinates and a simple message. And it was from Mumbo, of all people.

_MumboJumbo: Zed and I are ok but we need help_

_MumboJumbo: We’re stalling as much as we can, but it won’t last forever_

Xisuma had replied, asking about their safety and trying to figure out what was going on over there, but he had gotten no response. Just those three chats and more questions than answers. And as much as he wanted to throw caution to the wind and run after Mumbo and Zed, he knew that he needed all the help and planning he could get. Most importantly, he needed everyone on board, doing their part, if this was to succeed. 

“We are here!” a cheerful voice chirped from the entrance of the cave. Everyone turned to see Aster leading a _very_ confused Doc into the “meeting room”. Lyra followed close behind, still a little uncomfortable with the seven pairs of eyes on her, but now that she knew that nobody intended on deleting her, she seemed a little more relaxed. As Aster worked on finding Doc a place to sit and Doc started reconnecting with the other Hermits, Xisuma’s eyes stayed glued to Lyra. She gave him a nod of acknowledgement and Scar a short wave (which he returned with a kind smile) then took a seat. As Xisuma watched her, he suddenly had an idea. 

“Grian?” Xisuma asked, turning to him. Grian stopped fiddling with a repeater he must have found somewhere in the base and perked up. “What does EvilX know about Lyra?” Grian deflated a little and began fiddling with the repeater again, faster this time. “It was just, you were the last person to talk to him, I’m not trying to judge you or anything, I’m just curious.”

“Well, he knows that you won the battle,” Grian replied softly. “I didn’t tell him about her memory if that’s what you mean. I wasn’t sure yet.”

Lyra glanced between the two of them. “Does it matter what he knows about me?”

“I was just thinking, if he doesn’t know you’re on our side, maybe we could use you to lure him out, get him to lower his guard a little,” Xisuma explained, pointing at her.

“Out of the question!” Aster exclaimed, standing up. “We are not putting Lyra in that sort of position.”

“Of course, she would have to agree to it,” Xisuma said, ignoring Aster’s outburst. He faced Lyra. “Listen, I wouldn’t ask you to do it if it weren’t the only way I could think of. I don’t know if you remember or not, but EvilX is a very powerful, very dangerous man. If I am to rid the server of him, I’m gonna need all the help I can get.” Lyra looked down at her feet as if pondering what to do next. He really needed her to say yes. They all did. 

“It’s a great plan, X, if only we knew where EvilX was hiding,” Cub interjected, taking the attention off the poor girl for a moment. “We can’t just throw her out in the open and expect Ex to find her. Not only is it dangerous, but it’s not practical.”

“Actually, we do know where he is,” Xisuma revealed, taking out his communicator and pulling up his chats. “Mumbo gave me a set of coordinates right before I called the meeting. I’m sure it leads directly to him, but from the sound of it, they need our help as soon as possible.” Everyone in the room began to speak at once, asking all sorts of questions, and the room exploded with noise. Grian and Iskall glanced at each other, their eyes widening at the sound of their friend’s name. 

“Mumbo’s alive?” Iskall asked, stunned. “I mean, of course he’s alive! That crazy, crazy idiot is alive. That’s wonderful news.” Grian didn’t say anything, which was quite uncharacteristic of the man, but he closed his eyes and smiled to himself.

Xisuma cleared his throat and the room slowly quieted down. “Yeah, Mumbo’s alive, but if we don’t hurry up and help him, there’s no telling what could happen. So we need a plan.” He paced around the front of the room. “First, while everyone gets geared up, Cub and Scar, I need the drones to scan the area, look for points of entry and terrain. Then, once we figure out how to approach, we’ll head out. One group will head inside to get our friends, another will fight outside with me, and then we’ll have someone be the distraction.” He stopped and looked at Lyra. “Lyra? Have you considered?”

“I have considered,” Lyra replied, nodding slowly. “I think I will do it. Yes. Whatever you need me to do, I will do it. I just need a little bit of time to prepare.”

“Lyra--” Aster jumped in, protesting. Xisuma was about to step in and stop her, but she stopped herself before he had a chance. As she remembered the importance of the mission and the threat that was bigger than her, bigger than all of them, she held back. Biting her tongue, Aster forced out, “I will help you. Nobody knew you back then better than me.”

Lyra smiled. “Thank you for trusting me.”

“Alright then,” Xisuma announced, sending everyone off. “Cub, Scar, this way! Everyone else, grab gear, grab food, grab rockets. We don’t have much, but we’ll use what we’ve got to its fullest.” Hopefully, it would be enough to take EvilX down once and for all. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The beginnings of a plan. The final battle drawing near. The fate of life as they know it resting in their hands. The end is in sight, but what end shall it be, hm? And what will happen to those who lose?


	28. Actions and Reactions

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Howdy folks, your friendly neighborhood Cactus here with a fun fact! Did you know the hashtag is officially called an octothorpe?
> 
> Oh, and here’s another fun fact: y’all are super rad and will get through any troubles you’re facing right now! Whether it’s boredom or worry or stress that’s getting you down, you will be okay! Quarantine may be tough but trust me babe, you are tougher! But you probably knew that fun fact already ;)

Keralis was getting sick of wandering around the bunker, trying to make small talk with his friends that were hard at work getting ready for battles, watching cameras, and gathering supplies. It didn’t help that Aster, his closest companion for a while now, was the busiest of all of them. She spent all of her time these days shut in that room, healing Hermits and spending quality time with her sister, Lyra. It wasn’t that he blamed her, no no no, he would never blame her for doing good things for them. It just pained him to have to sit alone in a room of people he didn’t know how to talk to anymore while two of his friends were busy fixing Lyra and EvilShishwamy’s mess and the other was still lying unconscious.

He missed Bubbles the most. The others, they hadn’t thought about Bubbles since the first fight. Wouldn’t even talk about him. Each time he tried to bring it up, ask for updates, they would look between each other uncomfortably and mumble some sort of an excuse. Keralis wasn’t dumb, he understood the message everyone was saying but not saying: one problem at a time, and Bubbles was not that problem. It didn’t exactly help that he had betrayed everybody, had worked with Lyra, had killed Scar. The last thing they needed at the base was drama right as they were getting ready to take down EvilShishwamy. 

But they didn’t see Bubbles when Keralis last did. They didn’t see how hard he fought to save Keralis from Lyra, how at the last possible second he took control, dropped the sword, and walked away. The scene had been burned in his mind. Every time he checked in on the sisters and saw Bubbles’ lifeless body in that tiny room, it played over and over again. The way his eyes softened, just a little bit, before he left. The way the discarded sword clattered to the ground. The way he just walked away, a simple movement that had taken so much effort, and while Keralis didn’t know it yet, it would be the last time he saw his best friend alive. 

As he left Xisuma’s battle meeting (the second and hopefully last of its kind) he ran over to catch up with Aster to ask for a favor. After all, Scar had Cub back. Xisuma had Doc back. It wouldn’t be too out of the ordinary for him to make one teensy weensy request. 

“Aster! Hey, Aster!” he called out. Both sisters turned around at the sound of his voice. Wow, they really did look like sisters. They had the same beautiful face, the same eyes, the same style of hair. Even their dresses looked like exact copies. The only difference was their color scheme, a yin yang of sorts, with Aster clothed in white and blue while Lyra was dressed in black and red. 

“Keralis, good to see you!” Aster chirped, smiling warmly. “Is everything okay?”

“Uh, of course!” Keralis replied, shooting her a cheesy thumbs up. “What with Shishwamy finding Bumbo, I’m never better!”

Aster nodded cheerfully. “That is quite good to--”

Lyra cleared her throat loudly, breaking up their conversation. When the two of them turned to face her, she crossed her arms and glanced between them in disbelief. “Listen, I may not have been around you two for long, but I know forced small talk when I hear it,” she scoffed, half-joking. The other half was probably sincerity, something Lyra had shown a lot of in the most recent past. “Keralis, be honest. You want something. Might as well come out and say it.” 

Well. She wasn’t wrong. Keralis chuckled nervously and rubbed the back of his neck as the two girls stared at him expectantly. If it was _that_ obvious, there was no use in trying to hide it anymore. “Well, yes, there is one small thing…” he began sheepishly. But instead of saying what he really felt, he panicked and tried to cover. “It’s just that… well, we don’t talk anymore and I miss seeing you around.” Aster’s expression didn’t change, but Lyra tilted her head to the side a little, and he could almost feel the doubt radiating off of her. Lucky for him, she didn’t say anything, and he silently thanked her for doing so. 

Aster seemed confused. “Do not get me wrong, I miss seeing you as well, but we are very close to the end here, and Lyra and I have been quite busy with healing. We simply do not have time to hang out, as much as I wish we did.”

“When this is over, what do you plan to do?” Keralis asked, tabling his other question for the moment. “We defeat EvilX, we win the war, then what? Do you go or you stay here?”

Aster glanced at Lyra, who shrugged in response. “We have not discussed such an arrangement yet.”

“I assumed we would talk after the Ex thing blows over,” Lyra added. “So do not worry, Keralis. We have no plans to leave just yet.” 

“Of course,” Keralis smiled sadly. 

“I really should go, Lyra and I have a lot of work to do to prepare for what is to come,” Aster admitted. Without waiting for a response, Aster turned and started towards the room with the bodies to maybe heal one more person before they left and to teach Lyra how to be… Lyra, but the mean Lyra. Not the sweet face she had become once she had the chance to start over. As she walked away, Keralis felt his heart sink. He didn’t even get a chance to ask about saving Bubbles. 

The idea of his new friends leaving was a horrible one. And the thought had crossed his mind more than a few times now that there was little else to think about. Aster had a lot of buddies on the server. He had frequently seen her talking to Xisuma or Brian or even Iskall. Even Lyra -- who had quite the rough start with the Hermits -- had been spending much of her down time watching Cub and Scar work and learning economics from them. People liked having the sisters around, for the most part.

“Keralis, I think I have some idea of what you really want from us,” Lyra stated plainly. Keralis didn’t even realize she was still there, to be honest. “You have a friend, you want them healed, you want Aster to do you a favor.”

“Is it _that_ obvious?” Keralis asked sadly. He sighed. “I do not mean to be rude, but yes. I do have someone in mind. Someone who means the world to me.”

“No shame in wanting to protect a friend, Keralis,” Lyra chuckled softly, shaking her head. “Who is it? Maybe I can help put a good word in.”

“My friend Bubbles,” he explained. “Bdouble0100. White shirt, black pants, red bandanna, sweet face?”

Lyra’s face fell. “Oh. Him.”

“ _Him_? ‘Him’ doesn’t sound very good.” His heart raced. Did something happen to his Bubbles? 

“Well, here is the thing,” Lyra started, “he is not like the rest. The others, they have wounds and the virus. We fix the wound, remove the virus. Straightforward, right? Your friend Bubbles is different because he has no wound. He has no virus. Aster tried to save him first, she wanted to bring him back for you, but we have no idea what happened to him, and without my memory…” She stared at him, pity clear in her bright red eyes. “It appears I cannot help. At least, I do not know how. I am very sorry.”

“Do not be sorry, it’s… it’s okay,” Keralis whispered, faking a smile to reassure the girl that it was fine. However, after she left, he sunk to the ground. No! No, no, no, no! He couldn’t believe his ears. This was not how it was supposed to end. Not after everything he did for him! Not like this! There was so much they still had left to do together, like the new IDEA shop or messing with Sahara some more or just hanging out at his pool or building in New Hermitville. He couldn’t do that without his best friend by his side. Bubbles… there had to be a way to save him. There just had to! Because if Bubbles was gone… 

If Bubbles was gone, then his world was about to get a whole lot emptier.

***

_Xisuma: oh, thank god, we’ve been looking everywhere for you guys! what happened?_

_Xisuma: is Ex there? are you guys safe?_

_Xisuma: don’t worry, we’re on our way, hang tight_

Mumbo sighed and slumped over, chuckling in a combination of madness and pure relief. “It worked,” he laughed. “It really, truly worked.” After so much waiting and wishing, Xisuma finally responded to his chat. For a while, he was concerned that it didn’t send right or the signal was jammed or maybe Xisuma wasn’t going to see it. They _were_ under a mountain after all. The signal strength couldn’t have been _that_ good. There was no telling how long ago X had sent the message, but what mattered was that he saw it. And he was on his way. Mumbo turned to Zedaph, “He finally replied. They’re on their way.”

Zed jumped up and down, cheering enthusiastically. “Hurray! That’s the best news we’ve gotten all week!” He spun in a circle and nearly fell over, dizzy, as Mumbo continued laughing at his shenanigans. 

“I gotta admit, you were right about this one,” Zedaph said when the two of them began to calm down. “Guess we can’t call you a spoon anymore, huh. What are we supposed to say now, then? Mumbo the spoonless? Nah, that one implies you _had_ a physical spoon. How about unspoon? Yes! Unspoon Mumbo, that is your new title now.” He pulled an unlit redstone torch from his inventory and tapped it on each of Mumbo’s shoulders, pretending to knight him. “And with this royal sword, I dub thee Unspoon Mumbo!” Mumbo, laughing even harder, playfully shoved Zedaph aside. He slowly fell to the floor, pretending that Mumbo had dealt him a killing blow. “Please, Unspoon Mumbo, spare me!”

“Quit it, man. Besides, we’re not out of the woods yet. Phase one of our plan is complete, but we still have to hope phase two works. And that is entirely reliant on whether or not Ex does his bit right.” Mumbo sighed and picked his jacket up off the floor from where it was discarded while he worked. “It won’t be long now, Zed. We’ll be in the clear soon. It won’t be long now.”

“Won’t be long now?” Both Hermits jumped at the sound of their captor’s voice. They turned around to see Ex stomping into the room. His voice boomed throughout the cavern. “Such a hopeful tone for a doomed man. Pray tell, what won’t be long now?”

Mumbo didn’t say anything. He just opened his mouth and closed it repeatedly, like a gaping fish, as he contemplated what to say. Zedaph, realizing that his friend was only making them seem more suspicious, chimed in, “Why, the machine of course! Mumbo here,” he slapped him on the back, “has been working _ever_ so hard to get it up and running for ya. Haven't you, Mumbo?” 

Mumbo grinned nervously. “Er, yes, yes of course! Everything is going absolutely _swimmingly_ . I mean, uh you don’t have to worry, we’re not up to any _fishy_ business, I mean funny business.” Zed shot him a silencing glare, and Mumbo immediately took the cue and decided it was best to just shut up. Ex raised an eyebrow.

“What my friend _means_ to say is, your contraption is done!” Zedaph exclaimed, gesturing wildly to the machine. “Yay! Isn’t that neat!” This time, it was Mumbo’s turn to glare at Zed. That was _not_ the plan. They were supposed to tell Ex that they needed more time so they could wait until Xisuma and the others arrived to spring the trap. If they started now, Xisuma might not get there in time to save them, should their plan fail. Zedaph seemed to realize his mistake as soon as he finished his rambling. He froze in place, his arm still extended in the direction of the machine and his expression full of regret. But by then, it was too late. 

Ex narrowed his eyes at the two absolute morons with doubt. “I hope you know that if this thing fails, it’ll be your heads.” He pointed at Mumbo. “Yours first.”

Mumbo gulped. “Yes, of course! But it won’t! Promise. I tested it myself.”

“I did as well,” Zed interjected. “Nothing to fear, EvilXisuma! Your machine is 100% Zedaph and Mumbo approved, guaranteed to do,” he shot his partner a look, “exactly as intended.”

Ex grunted and stepped up to said machine, a large computer-shaped contraption that decorated the far wall of the cave. Most of it was hidden within the walls, of course, a complicated mess of redstone and other stuff that he didn’t want EvilX reading too deep into. It was beautiful and terrible at the exact same time. Because while the machine was rigged, Mumbo knew what it could really easily become capable of, and that much power shouldn’t be bestowed upon anyone like Ex. You know, the power-hungry destructive type that just wants to watch the world burn. 

EvilX cackled to himself and stepped up to the communicator, preparing himself for the supposed power he was just moments away from receiving. Zedaph tapped Mumbo’s shoulder, and the redstoner turned to see him prepping the lever needed to spring their trap. Despite himself, Mumbo began nervously fiddling with a leftover repeater. _God, I hope this works._

“For so long,” Ex announced, “I sat and watched as my _idiot_ brother controlled this world, deciding who comes, who stays, and who goes. Above everything, above reason itself. But now, the tables have turned, and I am the one in control!” He ran his fingers over the buttons and switches on the control panel, mostly there for decoration. “Finally, I have control over the server. I can shape this world into being whatever I want it to be! I will banish Xisuma from here, make him suffer the way he made me suffer! And then, and then…” he trailed off. For a moment, he stood in silence, staring at the screens, thinking. But then he shook his head. “Doesn’t matter. Point is, Xisuma is powerless against me!” He flipped the main switch and the machine hummed to life, the different screens lighting up and displaying text and information about the players and world. Then, EvilX turned to face the two Hermits. “ _I’m_ the admin now.”

He laughed maniacally, flicking through the screens, reading the data, seeing the world for what it was: numbers and information and a couple of players ruling it all. Mumbo turned to Zed, silently held up three fingers, and began to count down. 

3

2

1

One by one, the screens began shutting off, the information fading away right before their eyes. Ex stumbled back in shock. “No,” he shouted, slamming his fist against buttons and tapping the screens in a blind panic, “no NO _NO_ ! This can’t be happening! What the _HELL_ is happening?”

Quick as a hungry baby zombie, Zedaph slammed the lever against the stone wall beside him and flicked the switch, sending a current through a carefully placed line of redstone dust hidden in the wall. EvilX barely had enough time to gasp in surprise before a piston pulled out the floor beneath him and dropped him into a pool of water. Zed flicked the switch one more time, and the piston replaced the stone floor, sealing him in. 

Holy cow, it _worked_. 

Zedaph cheered. “We got him! We totally got him! Oh my god, oh this is _amazing_! Xisuma’s gonna flip when he hears ‘bout this!” 

“No time, come on!” Mumbo grabbed him by the arm and dragged him to the other end of the cave. Past the beds, past the cells, past the shulkers and chests scattered about in a clumsy living space. As they ran, he continued, “We still need to find a way out of here.”

“There!” Zed shouted, pointing to a discrepancy in the wall. “Cobble. Two blocks high. Looks like a not-so-hidden doorway to me!”

“Good thinking!” Mumbo pulled out the crappy stone pickaxe that Ex provided him at the start of his build and started to break through the blocks. However, after he broke through the first layer of cobble, he heard a snapping noise, and looked down to see his pickaxe broken in his hands. Damn durability! “No, no, no!” he exclaimed, already in full-fledged panic mode. “I don’t know how much is left! Punching it would take too long!”

Zed darted back to where they built the machine. “I think I saw an extra in a chest somewhere, come on!” The Hermits ran into the other room and frantically searched through the chests and shulkers for a stray pickaxe. Finally, Zedaph snatched one and shouted for Mumbo to follow him back to the makeshift exit. He started mining at the blocks again.

“Come on, come on!” Mumbo urged him.

“I’m going as fast as I can!” Zed grumbled back. 

Just then, Zedaph was yanked away from the doorway and thrown across the room, hitting the cave wall with a sickening _crunch_. He crumpled to the ground and stayed there, motionless. Mumbo turned to see a very soggy, VERY unhappy Ex standing right behind him. 

Mumbo nervously chuckled. “Uh, Listen, I can explain—“

But before he had the opportunity to, EvilX picked him up by the collar and slammed him against the wall. Then, Ex pinned his hand against Mumbo’s neck, cutting off his windpipe and glaring as the frail redstoner gasped and sputtered for air. He writhed under Ex’s iron grip and grasped at the hand around his throat, trying to pull away the fingers and give himself more room to _breathe_ , but it was no use. EvilX was just too strong. 

“ _You_ ,” Ex seethed, pulling Mumbo away from the wall and slamming him against it once more, pushing even harder against his throat. Mumbo’s vision became fuzzy, and he felt himself slipping away a little. “You thought you could stop me? You thought you could save this stupid insignificant little server with a feeble trap? Disgusting. The only thing you managed to do was make me _angry_. And you know what happens when I’m angry. I—”

Suddenly, a muffled noise sounded from outside.

Ex turned away from Mumbo, confused. For a second, Mumbo’s heart leapt in his chest, thinking it was their friends finally coming to rescue them. However, it was a noise, it could be anything. It could be a zombie groaning or a cow mooing. It didn’t exactly sound like the voice of anyone he knew, but then again, it was too far away to truly make out.

Again, the muffled noise, sounding even more like someone calling out to them. 

The voice was feminine, he could determine that. But, last time he checked, all of the female Hermits were dead: False perished in the fight against Lyra, Cleo was killed protecting the bunker, and Stress died right before Mumbo’s eyes, a scene he would never be able to forget no matter how hard he tried. That still left Aster, though. And Aster could have brought False, Cleo, or Stress back in the time between the shopping district skirmish and now, like she had with Grian. But hopefully, any number of those people would know better than to yell out, giving away their location and comprising any rescue efforts.

Ex looked very concerned now, for some reason. Maybe it was the idea of an intruder spoiling his fun and ruining his plans. He tossed Mumbo aside and pointed at him, growling, “Don’t you _dare_ move.” Mumbo nodded, not intending to do anything of the sort. 

EvilX brought out his pickaxe and quickly mined out the rest of the cobble he placed over the entrance, searching for the voice with an intensity and purpose Mumbo had rarely seen from the guy. Even when he was in the cave, scheming against the Hermits, he seemed preoccupied, almost distracted. Like he didn’t know exactly what he wanted anymore and therefore didn’t have any concrete plans. But now he was determined, and it was _scary_. 

The cobblestone wall was down, and the voice now rang clearly through the air.

“Ex! Ex, I am back! Where are you?”

Recognition passed over Ex’s face, and without hesitation, he darted out of the cave. Mumbo still didn’t recognize the voice — he simply hadn’t heard it before — but through a basic process of elimination, he knew there was only one person it could possibly be, and the thought of it both confused and worried him. Only one person knew Ex personally. Only one voice would cause him to drop everything and go looking for her. Only one person would be looking for him on her own, hoping to reconnect with him after everything that he did. It was Lyra.

Things were either about to get really good or really bad, and as Mumbo knelt the ground, fighting for both breath and consciousness, he genuinely couldn’t tell which one it was going to be.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Y’all I watched Mumbo’s most recent stream and it was my first stream of his I‘ve ever seen and I was giggling like a FOOL the whole time. He and Iskall are such wholesome people and a VERY good distraction when you’re trying to do online school <3


	29. I Knew You

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Howdy folks! For a while I was rly struggling with writing, because the lead up to the fun parts was just exhausting to plow through. But now!!! We’re getting to the fun parts!!! And I’m super excited to show you what I’ve been working on!!! It’s taking all of my self control to not post all of my finished chapters in one night lol.

Lyra was shaking. This was horrible, this was uncomfortable, this was everything she never wanted to do or be. Sure, at the time, helping the Hermits sounded like a grand idea, but now… She didn’t know.

As she stood just outside the cave, in front of a small cobblestone covered doorway, she crossed her arms over her chest and glanced over towards where she knew the Hermits were hiding. Most of them were very well hidden behind bushes and trees, some had invisibility potions in their inventory, ready to stage the perfect ambush. If she looked really closely, she could see Iskall, nervously tossing his sword from hand to hand, False, leaning against a tree and looking all around for signs of danger, and Xisuma. 

For someone about to face his brother in battle to avenge his fallen friends, Xisuma seemed eerily calm. Maybe it was faked confidence, maybe he had finally come to terms with what he had to do. The rest of them already had. She should have too, but for some reason, Lyra couldn’t help but stare at the mountain that Ex supposedly hollowed out for shelter and feel so _sad_. It made no sense. Lyra didn’t know him. She used to, back when she had her memory, but not anymore. She didn’t know his face or his voice or his story — aside from what the others told her — so why was she hesitating? 

_It doesn’t feel right, and you know it._

“Hey, Lyra,” False whisper-shouted from her spot by the tree, “are we getting the guy or not? What’s the holdup?”

“I am sorry I just… I would like to review the plan,” she lied. Sometimes you needed to lie to get people to listen to you, Lyra was quickly learning, and admitting to them that she was having second thoughts about the plan would only make things worse. “Just one more time, that is all.”

“Review? What’s there to review?” Doc snapped, throwing his hands in the air. “She’s stalling. Just like I said before, she’s still on his side! She doesn’t want to—” 

But Xisuma held out a hand to stop him from going any further. Crouching to hide himself in case Ex happened to be looking in their direction, he crawled next to where Lyra stood and whispered, “Don’t listen to them. Remember, you shout and lure him outside, get him to lower his guard, we’ll take positions and when the time is right, attack. When we go in, all you need to do is get out of here and catch up with the others.”

“You sure you do not need me here, in the fight?” Lyra asked. 

Xisuma shrugged. “I mean, I don’t see what you _can_ do. You don’t have a form, so you can’t hold things. And I’m sure you can assist your sister with the healing if that’s necessary, so you’ll still be helping.” He tilted his head. “Something’s still bothering you.” 

“Xisuma, dude, let’s wrap this up, I’ve got like a minute and a half left on my invisibility potion,” a voice called out from the line of trees. Probably Ren. He shouldn’t have drunk the thing already, but what was done was done, and Lyra really did have to pull herself together anyways. 

Xisuma shot Lyra one last concerned look, and she waved him away. “It is nothing. Do not worry. I can handle this,” she told him. As he crawled back to his hiding spot, Lyra took a few steps closer to the cave and repeated to herself one more time, “Lure him out, distract him, they attack, leave. Simple.”

Silently, she gave herself one last mental reminder of why she was doing this. For Aster. For the Hermits. For the server. Maybe for the universe, if he really was as bad as they said.

She raised her hands and cupped them around her mouth. “Ex!” she shouted. Silence. No movements, no blocks broken, no reply. Maybe he hadn’t heard her. “Hey, Ex!” More silence, but this time she heard movement, and some blocks ahead of her started breaking. Though her instincts screamed at her to run back in the other direction, get out of here and drag Aster away with her, she held her ground and called out once more. “Ex! Ex, I’m back! Where are you?”

The last of the cobble broke away, and a grey and red armored man stepped out of the cave and into the sunlight. For some reason, seeing him in front of her didn’t bring as much fear as she thought he would. The Hermits had hyped him up to be some type of big, evil villain, someone ruthless and wildly dangerous that she needed to protect herself against. But now, as she looked up at him, Lyra saw that he wasn’t some supernatural creature that needed to be feared, he was just a man. A man who had done a whole lot of bad, sure, but a man nonetheless. So long as everyone kept their heads on their shoulders and stuck to Xisuma’s plan, they could defeat him. 

She saw a glimmer of light out of the corner of her eye. No doubt Xisuma’s communicator, sending out the signal for the others to extract the prisoners.

“Lyra.” Ex stated her name plainly. There was no trace of emotion in his voice, to the point where it was almost robotic. “Long time, no see. Where have you been?”

_Time to get into character, remember what Aster taught you._

_  
_Lyra crossed her arms over her chest. “Where do you think I was?” she spat. “I fought the Hermits, as planned, and I lost. They took me prisoner and held me at their base for a while. Oh yeah, thanks for coming to rescue me and all. Really appreciated the lack of effort on your behalf.”

Ex tilted his head. “The red one told me they had defeated you. I thought you were dead. Thought your sister had killed you. That was their plan, after all.”

“Well, you thought wrong,” Lyra straightened her dress and tried to look like she knew what she was doing. “My sister was weak. She could not handle the thought of having blood on her hands, so she let me live. When they were not looking, I set myself free.” She chuckled darkly. “They think their silly walls can hold me. It is so _pathetic_.”

“Is that so?” Ex asked, the doubt dripping in his voice. He sat on a naturally generated stone ledge on the side of the cave and eyed her with suspicion. “How’d you even lose to them in the first place? I thought you said once you had a form you’d be unstoppable.” 

“How did _you_ lose to your brother?” Lyra shot back. Ex jumped to his feet in a combination of shock and rage, and Lyra suddenly saw how much of a low blow that question was. She fought back the impulse to apologize to him. After all, Ex wasn’t somebody you apologized to, and the old Lyra wasn’t someone who apologized. “Listen, my form failed me. There were a lot of them, and I lost. Plans go sideways sometimes, and that is why we have a plan B. Since you have been out here longer than I have, I would assume you have one already?”

Ex hesitated for a moment, and Lyra panicked internally. Had she done something wrong? Had she not been herself enough? Why wasn’t he trusting her? Then, he exhaled dejectedly, strode up to her, and admitted, “Well, I did, but those stupid Hermits mucked it up like they usually do. They just won’t give up, no matter what I try.”

He trusted her. It was working. Unbelievable. “What did you try?”

“I tried to hack into the system, get my brother’s powers for myself,” he told her. “I kidnapped two redstoners to build me a machine, and they sabotaged the thing. Trapped me, but I got out. I was about to enact revenge before you showed up.” She suddenly realized just how soggy he was, but figured it was best not to ask. 

A little ways away, just behind Ex, purple particles softly floated into the air. Particles so light, she would have missed them if she didn’t already know they would be there and wasn’t actively looking for them. Signs of an invisibility potion, or so Lyra was told. She didn’t know who exactly it was, the name tags were hidden for her too, but that meant the Hermits were in position so she didn’t have to stall for much longer. Thank _god_. It wasn’t the lying that bothered her, it was just the fear that she would slip up, say something wrong, and ruin everything. Speaking of:

“So they are alive, then.”

“Sure, for now.” Ex narrowed his eyes. “Why do you care?”

Damn it. “Well, they could still prove useful in the future,” she bluffed, trying to come up with an excuse on the spot. It really was all about presentation; she just had to act confident because old Lyra was nothing if not confident. “Maybe we just need to use the right methods to convince them to do as we say. I have been told I can be quite persuasive when I want to be.” She smirked. 

“Sounds good to me,” Ex replied, nodding. “If you say they’re good for something, I trust you. Come with me, I’ll show you where the prisoners are.” 

He turned to go, and Lyra opened her mouth to say something, to stall a bit longer ( _where the hell was Xisuma?_ ) until someone behind her cleared his throat. Ex immediately whipped out his sword and shoved Lyra behind him as if to protect her from the threat. She peeked over his arm to see what was going on, only to see Xisuma appear from the forest with his own sword drawn, his eyes furrowed and his posture rigid. Ex himself stiffened behind her at the sight of his brother. 

“Xisuma,” he seethed. He spoke to Lyra, “Prepare yourself for a fight. Where there’s one of these insignificant insects, there’s sure to be more.”

“She doesn’t take orders from you,” Xisuma calmly stated. “Not anymore.”

Ex turned to face Lyra, and she slowly backed away from him, her shoulders trembling. Not with fear, not with cold, but with something else. Something worse. It took him a moment, but he soon realized what she was doing, and he lowered his sword as betrayal filled his eyes. His voice shook a little as he said, “Lyra. Lyra, what are you doing?”

“I am sorry,” she whispered back. 

“No, no, you can’t. We’re a team. Lyra, you know me,” he said, shaking his head in disbelief. His voice rose with rage, and he shouted, “Goddamnit, Lyra, why would you-- you _know_ me!”

“Maybe I did once,” Lyra confessed. She couldn’t look him in the eyes. “But… but not anymore.”

Xisuma nodded at her. “Good work, Lyra. Now, get out of here.”

She took one last look at the scene. Xisuma, standing his ground, ready to launch his final attack and end it all, whatever end that may be. The Hermits, invisible, standing around the brothers, but now with their swords and tridents out so it looked like five floating weapons were pointed at Ex accusingly, ready to spring into action at any moment. And Ex… Ex in the middle of it all, his breathing heavy, his chest heaving with every breath, his red eyes boring a hole through her very soul, their meaning clear. _You did this to me. I trusted you, and you betrayed me._

  
“Lyra,” Xisuma prompted, “go.”

And then, she ran. 

Lyra sprinted into the forest, leaving it all behind. Leaving her duty and her broken promises and her betrayal in that clearing in front of that cave as one simple truth rang through her mind. He was her _friend_. Of course, that didn’t excuse what he did, but it sure didn’t help the horrible feeling growing in the pit of her stomach and the painful images flashing through her head. Bits and pieces, all fragmented and twisted and faded that it nearly made her head spin trying to take it all in, but she got the message. For so long she wondered what her role was in all of this, what part she played in everything, but she could only learn so much from her sister and the Hermits. But this time, it was like the last puzzle piece finally clicked into place. Not only was Ex her partner in crime, but he was also her friend. 

_“You know me.”_

She raced through the forest, darting in between trees to get to the meeting point she, Aster, and Scar had agreed upon before heading out earlier that day. When she arrived, she quickly realized just how alone she was in that forest. On every side of her were leaves and trees and dense foliage that seemed to grow deeper and darker the more she stared into them. Lyra wrapped her arms around her body and took a few steps back, trying to keep the senseless panic at bay. Where were they? Had something happened to them? Where _were_ they?

_“You know me!”_

A movement somewhere behind her caused her to whirl around and raise her hands to defend herself, bringing with them a glowing red orb of magic. The object of her attack, Scar, squeaked in alarm and stumbled backwards, almost falling over with the added weight of the brown bundle in his arms. Lyra, realizing that it was her friend and not a potential attacker, lowered her hands and exhaled a quiet sigh of relief.

“Scar! Scar are you--” Grian raced through the trees, sword drawn, but upon seeing it was only her, he relaxed a little and shoved his sword back in his inventory. “Oh, hey Lyra. Thank goodness. For a moment there, I thought I was gonna have to fight something, and that was not gonna end well.” He paused and then clarified, “For the something, not for me. I happen to be _excellent_ at PvP.” 

“Grian, Scar,” Lyra acknowledged them both and smiled weakly. “How did it go?”

Scar returned the smile and shifted the bundle in his arms a little which, upon closer inspection, now resembled the sleeping figure of a man with hair the curliness of macaroni and the color or cheese. “Well we have Zedaph, and your sister has Mumbo, so I’d say pretty good!”

Aster stumbled through the forest, half-leading half-dragging a very confused Mumbo into the clearing. “Oh, Lyra! Glad you are okay. I assume everything went smoothly?” Lyra nodded and Aster grinned back, oblivious to her sister’s frazzled state. “Good to hear. Scar, you can lay Zedaph down over here. I can take care of his wounds myself, so feel free to sit this one out, Lyra,” Aster happily chirped. “You have done more than enough already.” 

Again, Lyra nodded and watched as Scar carefully laid Zedaph down at Aster’s feet. Mumbo took a seat on a nearby tree trunk to collect himself and stared as Aster set to work healing the blonde man whose eyes fluttered ever so softly, a sign that he was alive and barely awake. Grian sat down on the ground next to Mumbo and mumbled something to him. By the somber expression on his face and the knowledge that Grian caused Mumbo’s capture -- Aster had told her what was bothering the poor man after she politely asked -- Lyra figured that he was apologizing. Mumbo listened intently, and once Grian had finished talking, reached out to hold hands with him and softly replied, no doubt forgiving him. It was quite sweet, really. Noticing her, staring blankly at the two friends, Scar stood up and walked over to Lyra’s side. 

“We couldn’t have done this if it weren’t for you, you know,” he told her, grinning widely and clapping her on the back. “You distracted EvilX and we freed our friends so he couldn’t use them as leverage in the fight. I know you were really worried before, but hey, the worst is over! We’re proud of you.” 

She could barely hear him over the sound of her own thoughts and the sight of those images again. Moments frozen in time, briefly floating to the surface of her mind like ice in a glass, then dissolving into nothingness and disappearing for good. But now they had a few lines of dialogue to go along with them for context, what little she could gather echoing throughout her mind.

_“It was all in good fun, for a while. We hung out with each other. I helped him test some stuff for videos. Sometimes he let me have a moment in the spotlight. But it never lasted long.”_

_“I know how that feels. I have a sister.”_

_“Yeah, well, one day he’d decided he’d had enough of my shenanigans and he threw me out. Trapped me in the world between worlds to protect his stupid friends from me. Like I was a dangerous creature he needed to lock in a cage to keep the world safe. That’s why I want him gone.”_

_“Dead?”_

_“Gone.”_

“Lyra? Hey, Lyra?” Scar stepped in front of the girl and placed a hand on her shoulder. “You okay there? You don’t really look too good…”

Without warning, Lyra reached out and hugged Scar. It was a surprise to him, and he almost pulled back in alarm -- she had never touched any of the Hermits before, let alone hug them, so his reaction made perfect sense -- but knowing that this was Lyra, probably one of the most harmless people on the server these days, he relaxed a little and gently hugged back.

“Hey, hey, what’s going on, Lyra? Is everyone alright?” he asked, holding her carefully. There was concern in his voice. Not only for her, but for his friends as well. 

“They are fine, I just…” How would she explain this one? How could she manage to tell him that while she knew that she did the right thing, it still felt so wrong? How could she admit that she was remembering things again? How could she say that… that… Lyra squeezed her eyes shut and whispered, soft enough that the others wouldn’t hear:

“He was my friend.”

Scar didn’t pull away, didn’t toss her aside, didn’t even shift his weight to indicate he was uncomfortable or shocked or scared of her. He just stood there, holding her, comforting her, even though she felt like she didn’t deserve it for so many reasons now. Though she couldn’t see his face and he hadn’t said a word, she knew that Scar understood what she meant. He understood why she was hurting, and she barely had to say anything at all. After a moment of silence, he let out a deep sigh and patted her back. 

“I figured.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Lol sorry to end on that cliffhanger. I meant to shove Lyra’s perspective and the next’s together but per usual, I wrote too much :/ stay tuned next week for more funky times


	30. My Brother’s Keeper

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ahhhhhhh howdy everyone!!! It’s time!!! No more putting it off!!! Tbh I’m really nervous about releasing this one. While it was super fun to write, I really hope I did the characters and this story justice agshwjdb enough of that ENJOY THE CHAPTER YAAAAY

Xisuma watched Lyra run off into the line of trees with relief. She played her part beautifully, and now she was off to help Scar, Grian, and Aster with any complications in rescuing the others. However, despite all of her good work, something seemed sort of… off about her. Her terrified expression when Xisuma appeared, her mumbled apologies, how she hesitated before disappearing into the forest. Most of it could probably be chalked up to fear and worry about her own safety, but Xisuma couldn’t help but wonder if something had gone horribly wrong on her end of things. He made a mental note to ask later… 

“How dare you.”

… if later was an option. 

“How _dare_ you,” Ex repeated, his piercing red eyes burning a hole through X’s soul. He took a step forward, and an invisible Doc raised his trident to hold him back. “You’ve been mean before, but this is downright cruel. How’d you do it, huh? How’d you turn her against me? What did you offer her that I couldn’t?” 

“She lost her memory,” Xisuma plainly told him. “She doesn’t remember you. We told her the truth of who you were and what you were doing here, and she decided for herself to join us.”

Ex laughed in his brother’s face. “The truth. You told her the truth, did you?” 

“Yeah, I did,” Xisuma replied, kinda pissed at his implicit accusation. “You killed my friends.”

“They were in my way.” 

“You tortured Grian.”

“I needed his information.”

“You kidnapped Mumbo and Zedaph.”

“What are you doing here? Reciting my crimes before the execution?” Ex chuckled to himself, glancing around at the circle of weapons surrounding him. Then, it hit him. “Oh wait. I see what you’re doing here. You’re trying to get me to feel bad for what I did, make me repent or something.” He leaned forward and whispered, “But here’s the thing, _brother_. I don’t feel bad for it. I don’t feel bad for any of it. And I would do it again and again and again if I had the chance.”

Xisuma crossed his arms and sighed, unimpressed with his brother’s outburst. He knew EvilX was just trying to rub him the wrong way, get him to start a fight, but it wasn’t going to work. It probably would come down to a fight at this rate, but he had some things he needed to get off his chest first. And most importantly, he had to keep a level head throughout all this. If Xisuma let any of his many _many_ emotions get to him, the server and everyone on it would be put in danger.

“No, no you wouldn’t,” Xisuma told him, causing Ex to stare at him in confusion. “You don’t take joy in killing. You’ll do it if you must, but that’s not who you are. You may like to cause a bit of mischief every now and again, but you don’t want to hurt people who don’t deserve it. So you aren’t here to kill them, you’re here to kill me. And unfortunately, I can’t let you do that. But I am willing to compromise.” He waved at Doc to lower his trident, which from the slow and clunky movement of the weapon, Xisuma figured it was with some reluctance. “You put this server destroying thing aside, you let Zed and Mumbo go, and we talk. Just the two of us. We’ll talk and figure this out together.” 

One by one, some of the Hermits became visible.The invisibility potions weren’t meant to last forever, mainly because they wouldn’t, but they just needed to last long enough for the Hermits to surround Ex and keep him from running or fighting. Ren appeared first, for obvious reasons, then Iskall, False, Keralis, and finally Doc. All of them were on edge, their brows furrowed, their weapons at the ready just in case Xisuma couldn’t get through to him. Their sudden appearance started to make Ex anxious, and he tensed up even more.

“Don’t worry about these guys,” Xisuma tried to assure him, taking a step forward towards his brother and gesturing for his friends to take a step back. He stretched out his hand, offering a handshake. “I promise if you come with me, we can fix things. We can be brothers again, but we have to work together on this one, alright? No more fighting, no more madness, just civil conversations and real changes.”

Ex took a step forward to get even closer to his brother. Despite supposedly being an exact clone of Xisuma, Ex seemed to tower over the admin. The expression on his face was unreadable. He sighed, and calmly stated, “Wow, Xisuma, I didn’t know you were thinking all that. If you really wanted to be brothers…” 

In one swift motion, Ex raised his sword and slashed it across Xisuma, sending the admin flying backwards and collapsing onto the ground. For a moment, time slowed. Xisuma placed his hand against his chest, trying to stop the seeping pain, and when he pulled it away, it was slick with bright red blood. He looked up at Ex in betrayal, and his brother’s eyes flashed with a sick and twisted glee. 

“You should have thought of that before banning me,” he growled. 

Then, everything happened at once. The rest of the living Hermits rushed at Ex all at the same time, hoping that if they all worked together to fight him, he’d become disoriented and have a harder time killing them all. Keralis, however, saw Xisuma’s fall and ran to his side, a healing potion at the ready. 

“Shishwamy! Shishwamy are you ok?!” he shouted, passing his friend the potion and looking up at him with those wide eyes. 

“Yeah, yeah, I’m peachy,” Xisuma chuckled dryly as he stumbled to his feet. “Just a scratch, not that deep. Damn, I really thought that would work.” Lyra seemed to as well. She said that Ex didn’t want him dead, after all, just gone, and he knew she was telling the truth with that one. So what changed? Why was he still fighting, even after Xisuma showed him another way? He could fix things, he could stop the fighting and the pain and the cycle of chaos inflicted on both the server and each other. So why did Ex still want to turn his back on it all? 

Keralis squeezed Xisuma’s arm once in solidarity, not really knowing what else to say, then turned his attention to the fight unfolding before them. The plan was simple: distract Ex, giving Xisuma a narrow time window in order to follow through with plan B, the plan in place just in case Ex turned down the offer for change. Which, unfortunately, was how things were going. With a heavy heart, Xisuma took a moment to gather himself and focused on using his admin powers. Soon, the familiar green screens popped into his vision, and he started sifting through the tabs to find what he wanted to find.

So far, the others were keeping Ex rather busy. Xisuma wasn’t actively paying attention, no, too much rested on his shoulders for that, but he could see some of the fighting unfold through the translucent squares that floated in front of his eyes. Iskall took a stab at Ex, then ducked out of the way to allow Ren an opportunity to get a hit in. Ex roared and lashed out at them with his own sword, but they dodged the attack, and he missed both of them. As Ex became distracted by those two, False took a running head start and nimbly leaped onto his back, managing to hold on tight despite him bucking and trying to toss her off. His disorientation allowed Doc to throw his trident at him a few times, until Ex realized how much damage he was taking, and with one final twist of his body, he threw False directly into Doc, and the two crumpled to the ground in a groaning, tangled mess of limbs. 

But False didn’t go that easy. No, no. While she was hanging onto Ex for dear life, she must’ve unclipped something, or maybe she was clinging onto it when she was thrown, but as she flew through the air, she took something with her. 

EvilX’s helmet. 

Well, that certainly caught Xisuma’s attention. False was as shocked as he was, for when she sat up and realized the thing was in her hands, her mouth dropped open and she sat absolutely still. And then, all eyes were on Ex. 

Nobody aside from Xisuma himself had ever seen Ex without his helmet. His long, unkempt white hair almost glowed in the harsh sunlight. The pinkish freckles on his face stood bright against his pasty skin. An x-shaped scar, left over from an unknown incident so many years ago, stretched across his face, interrupting his otherwise perfect features. It wasn’t ugly by any means, just unusual. Other than those notable features, he looked exactly like Xisuma himself. By design, of course, but it had been so long since he had seen his brother’s face, and the uncanny resemblance and the memories behind it made him pause his duties for a moment and just _stare_. 

Unfortunately, Ex also took the moment to stare back at him. And it didn’t take his brother long to deduce what Xisuma was doing. 

“NO!” he shouted, charging forward with his sword raised. “NOT AGAIN!”

Well, shit, so much for Ex being distracted. Xisuma started backing up in alarm as his brother charged at him, and the admin screens before him flickered and began to fade out. Iskall and Ren nodded to each other and ran at Ex, tackling him to the ground with their combined force. It wouldn’t last long, but it was something. Keralis, seeing this all go down, quickly moved behind Xisuma and shoved him forward. 

“We shall protect you, Shishwamy,” he announced, already heading into the fray. “But you gotta protect us! Stay focused!”

Xisuma slowly nodded and tried once again to clear his mind, to keep the screens activated. It was all about concentration. So long as he made an effort to keep the screens open and focused on what he had to do, they would stay in the air. If his concentration was broken, he’d have to start over from square one, and they didn’t exactly have time for that, now, did they? All he had to do was trust that his friends had his back, and finish his duty as fast as humanly possible. 

Sorting through the tabs and files and screens was a difficult task on its own when Xisuma wasn’t stuck in a life or death situation. It was even harder now that he could hear the scuffles and cries right in front of him of his friends trying to kill his brother and his brother trying to kill his friends. It also didn’t really help that he buried all information on what he was trying to do a long time ago, guilt-ridden and scared of the power that he wielded. A justified feeling at the time, but a major inconvenience now.

“Ren, duck!” 

“Watch out!”

“Leave him alone, you freak!”

But Xisuma didn’t look up.

Come on, come on. It has to be around here somewhere. A big red button, right? It was a pop-up that led to a big red button, but he had to log in first. Where were the locked files that he had to log in to? It had to be the same place as the server settings, where he had turned off enderman griefing and added the armor stand system. As he clicked through a few pages, he reached another green pop up that asked him to log-in. This seemed familiar. His username was easy. That was just his name. And his password… 

“Iskall, look out!”

“You bastard!”

His communicator pinged, and Xisuma had to fight the increasingly powerful urge to look up. 

He typed his usual password in, but the screen flashed red once and then returned to its original state. That wasn’t right. Why wasn’t that right? Well, he did have to change his password recently for cybersecurity and all, so maybe it was still his old password. Maybe it was that. Once again, the screen flashed red, and the blank section for the password stared him in the face, mocking him. So it wasn’t a password linked to his account, it was its own thing. What could it possibly be, then? 

“I can’t hold him any longer, somebody— AGH!”

“No, don’t hurt him! Don’t hurt my friends!”

“Keralis, get out of the—!”

A scream rang through the air.

His communicator pinged once more, and Xisuma could no longer help himself. 

He glanced up from the login page in front of him just in time to see Keralis impaled upon Ex’s blade, limbs completely and utterly slack. His eyes, usually so lively and emotional, were completely empty, drained of all their light. A trickle of blood escaped Keralis’s open mouth, stuck in that horrible screaming expression. Ex pulled his sword out of his stomach and tossed him aside like a sack of potatoes. Xisuma couldn’t believe what he was seeing, he just couldn’t believe it. The man that had survived everything thus far, always there with a kind smile or gentle hug, was lying lifeless on the ground, now suffering the same fate as Bdubs before him. Both of his friends… It wasn’t, it couldn’t be happening. And yet it was. 

Keralis was gone. 

It was then that the screens almost winked out completely. 

Ex grinned maniacally, realizing how that death had cut his brother deep. Noticing that he was distracted by his pride, Ren and False jumped to their feet on either side of Ex and slammed him against the cave wall, pinning both his arms so he couldn’t escape. Doc, lying a little further away, took a little more time, but soon he was right beside them, trident in hand, pointed at Ex’s throat. He turned to Xisuma and barked, “Come on, X! Finish it!”

That’s when it occurred to him. 

Of course the password to the button wouldn’t be an inside joke or a silly reference, it would be a little bit more serious than that. If he was locking the button away, he would use the one thing that kept him from using it in the first place as a reminder of what he could put to an end with a single click. But every end had a beginning once. A fun beginning, a mostly harmless beginning, one that brought so many people joy and excitement and the capacity for storytelling so long ago. He quickly typed in the numbers and hit enter, really hoping that this one was it. 

_010415_

For a brief moment, nothing happened. And then, the red pop-up appeared. A large red button hung in front of his face, the opacity low enough that he could see through to the other side. Ex squirmed against his captors, trying so desperately to get away, but eventually he recognized that it was no use and gave in: his eyes downcast, his mouth twisted into a sneer, his teeth gritted. He braced himself, knowing full well exactly what was about to happen to him. False and Iskall loosened their grip a little on Ex’s arms, and Doc loosened his on his trident as they stared at the button in front of Xisuma, in awe of the raw power it contained. He gazed, one last time, into his brother’s eyes. 

“You can’t say I didn’t try, Ex,” Xisuma sadly sighed. “Because I _did_ try. You may not think so, but I really tried to make you understand. To help you fit in. But you wouldn’t listen to me. And now I just can’t let you—”

“Save it,” Ex snapped, staring directly into Xisuma’s sorrowful purple eyes with so much burning, seething hatred. He spat on the ground between them. “Go to hell.”

“I’m sorry it has to be this way.”

With that final apology — knowing that to him it didn’t mean anything but trying regardless, up until the final moment — Xisuma pressed the button. 

And the world erupted into every shade of light. 

And his brother screamed as he was taken away, almost like a wounded animal screams when it’s injured and just _knows_ it’s as good as dead. The sound rang through the air and echoed throughout his mind like a resounding gong. Overpowering, inescapable, unbearable. Xisuma knew he had done what was best for his friends, his world, hell, for everyone, but as he sank to the ground, hands covering the sides of his helmet where his ears would be, his stomach turned sour with regret, and he couldn’t help but think that this was the worst possible turnout of events. Because if Ex had killed him, at least he would have died with integrity. 

***

Cub watched it all go down from the base, as he stared at the screens in front of him and prepared his drones for attack just in case something went wrong. He offered to go out with them — he wasn’t too shabby at PvP and figured they’d need all the help they could get — but Xisuma asked him to stay behind and do his part from home. So he resumed his usual position as a pair of eyes in the sky, and he watched the fight go down from there. 

He watched as Lyra lured EvilX out. He watched as Grian and Scar staged a carefully planned rescue mission to get Mumbo and Zedaph back. He watched as Xisuma offered Ex a shot at redemption, and he watched as Ex threw it all away. He watched as a fight broke out. As Iskall and Keralis died. As Xisuma finally hit the button to stop Ex from hurting anybody ever again. 

Cub leaned back in his swivel chair and let out a low whistle. “He did it,” he whispered to himself. “He actually did it. Huh.”

***

Things in the meeting spot were quiet, to say the least. Zedaph was sleeping on the ground, still exhausted despite being all healed. Scar was sitting next to Lyra, who was silently staring off into the distance as her sister tried to talk to her and figure out why she seemed so sad. Scar looked like he wanted to intervene but didn’t quite know how. The other duo had already made their peace with each other, and now Grian was snuggled up next to Mumbo, resting his head on his shoulder and trying somewhat to stay awake, with little success. It had been a long day for everyone. 

Then, in the nearby distance, a beam of light erupted from the earth. Grian and Scar’s communicators both pinged at once, but they didn’t have to look to know what had happened. For a second, all was quiet, aside from a few sighs of relief.

“I think… I think it’s over.” Grian barely dared to say it.

Lyra and Aster looked between each other and then back at the beam of light, which lasted for a few more seconds and then disappeared entirely. “Yeah, it really is over. Ex is gone,” Lyra announced, somewhat sadly. “Something tells me it is for good this time.” Scar glanced at her with an empathizing look in his eyes. 

Grian nodded slowly. “Mumbo?”

“Yeah, Grian?”

“Let’s… let’s go home.”

***

He never wanted this. All he really wanted was to be with his brother again. He genuinely wanted Ex to take him up on his offer. He truly did want to be forgiven, to talk things out with him, to make things right. It didn’t matter what the Hermits thought of it so long as they got the chance to make things right. 

And yeah, maybe this was all his fault like Ex liked to say it was. He was just so _angry_ when he banned Ex the first time, but who wouldn’t be when their brother started putting their friends in danger and ignoring their attempts to stop it? So maybe he said some things. Maybe he did some things. Maybe he realized his mistake almost as soon as he made it, but by then the damage was already done. Maybe he was too scared to go back because how do you go back from that? What do you say? What do you do? And maybe, just maybe, Ex had a point in wanting him gone. 

He never meant for it to go this far, but here it was. 

And now, he could never go back. 

That thought saddened him more than he could ever say. 

  
  


… 

  
  
  


… 

  
  
  


…

  
  
  
  
  
  
  


_EvilXisuma was banned by Xisuma._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *sips tea and WAITS*
> 
> Lol don’t worry there’s more after this I’m not that mean


	31. What’s Best Left Forgotten

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Howdy folks... it’s been a little while heh heh. Sorry I missed last week’s update, I had three exams I had to study for, but they’re all done now hurray!!

It wasn’t long until things started picking back up in the traditional Hermitcraft fashion. While Ex never exactly had the opportunity to burn down the shopping district, let alone the server, there still was a lot of work to do to clean things up. So the Hermits did what they did best and got busy. Those who were already awake gathered supplies, tools, and themselves, and started patching up the damages in the shopping district as well as filling up the temporary bases left by Lyra and Ex. Everyone collectively agreed that they didn’t need the reminder of everything that had happened in the past few weeks so readily available, especially to outsiders when the world download became available.

Aster and Lyra immediately set to work healing the others, but now they had Mumbo, Cub, Tango, and sometimes Zedaph (he would pop his head in every so often to say something bizarre, lighten the mood a little, and head out) to bounce ideas off of to figure out the most efficient way to do so. Now that they had time and some of the best technical geniuses on their side, they were finally learning to “work smarter, not harder” with their powers. Together, they found a way to build some sort of girl-powered redstone contraption to heal their friends by amplifying their energy output without having to wait so long for said energy to recharge.

Of course, they healed Keralis first. Aster simply wouldn’t have it any other way. But pretty quickly, everyone was waking up and getting back to the usual routine of things. After the routine hasty explanation that Lyra was indeed on their side and not going to hurt them, that is. However, it didn’t always work. Bdoubleo100 would not wake up, no matter what they tried. No matter how much energy the sisters used, no matter what additions were made to the machine, he still laid there as still as stone. While the others kept going back to the drawing board and trying new things, Lyra couldn’t help but stare at his peacefully sleeping form, wondering what could have happened and how it could have gotten this bad.

The cleanup crew of builders and terraformers, on the other hand, were having the time of their lives. Nobody really liked filling in holes or taking down builds or cleaning up in general, but when all of your friends were doing it with you, the fun type of chaos ensued. Ren and Iskall told extremely exaggerated stories about how they single handedly beat both evil Lyra and Ex. Gri-- er, Poultry Man made a comeback and would throw chickens into any of the shops he cleaned up as an extra “present”. Scar worked his terraforming magic on the abandoned caves left over from the hideouts and somehow made them absolutely gorgeous. Some people complained it would look too suspicious because of how lovely it looked, but in the end they kept the new cave design. 

People were laughing, they were helping each other heal and grow. There were campfires in wide open spaces and parties hosted at people’s bases. The Hermits had put aside their weapons and armor and made more time to be with each other. And as their lost friends returned to them, you could hear joy filling the streets of the shopping district as they spent everyday together as if to make up for lost time. Slowly but surely, even the Hermits that had been hurt the most were getting better. 

That is, except one. 

***

Keralis hadn’t heard from Shishwamy in a while, and it was starting to worry him. Usually, he was the life of the party. He loved his friends and would want to see them when they woke up, right? He’d want to watch everyone interact, give them some direction, help lead them like he usually would when something went wrong. Granted, the things that usually went wrong like lag or a dispute between Hermits were easily fixable and didn’t leave so many scars, but he was always there for them. So where was he, now that things were finally going right?

It took a while, but eventually it dawned on him. Maybe Shishwamy had done all he could for the other Hermits. Maybe he had given all that he could give. Maybe someone needed to be there for _him_ for a change. 

Keralis was sitting at a late night picnic with his friends, all of them huddled around a campfire for warm protection from the cool evening air, when he came to this realization for the first time. He was sipping on a nice glass of hot cocoa while watching Ren singing some campfire songs that some of the others joined in on, with varying levels of skill. To his left sat Aster, silently watching the festivities with a pleasant expression on her face and subtly swaying to the music. To his right were the Concorp boys and Lyra, a group that had hung out nearly constantly since the final battle with EvilShishwamy. At the moment, Lyra was trying to understand from Cub what the different redstone components did, and Scar was quietly watching and grinning, jumping in to help clear stuff up when Cub got a little _too_ technical for Lyra to understand. A few Hermits had gone back to their bases to call it a night already but most were still there.

Two people were completely unaccounted for, and one of them was Shishwamy.

Aster turned to him and smiled brightly. “I have heard music before, but something about seeing someone sing brings so much more joy. I guess you could say it is the organic aspects of a live performance, but I have never been one to understand that which is organic,” she chuckled to herself. When he did not reply, she gently nudged Keralis in the arm. “Why so somber, Keralis? We are supposed to be celebrating.”

He sighed and stared into his half-empty cup. “It’s just… I haven’t seen Shishwamy in a while and I worry about him. I think he’s going through something really bad right now, and he’s avoiding us.” Hearing this, Scar looked over at them and frowned.

“Yeah, I was wondering about that too,” he added. “At first I was like ‘maybe he just needs space’ because he did just have to… you know, but it sounds like nobody has talked to him in a few days. Last time I did was right before we started the shopping district cleanup project. I think Tango saw him last. He asked X if he and Impulse should clean up the camera and bunker system at Sahara.”

“X told ‘em to leave it,” Cub added. Now both he and Lyra were paying attention, too. Great. Keralis sunk a little lower in his seat on the tree trunk. He didn’t mean to worry anybody else, but now everyone was starting to get involved. “If I remember correctly, he said he’d take care of the bunker cleanup. Maybe he’s still there.”

Aster raised an eyebrow. “Still there? That happened so long ago.”

“Would explain why he wasn’t at his base, I suppose. I went to check on him this morning,” Keralis admitted, “but nothing! He wasn’t there.”

“What would he be doing at the bunker?” Lyra asked, thoroughly confused. She glanced between everyone’s worried faces. “Wait, do we think something has happened to him?”

“Don’t worry, it’s most likely nothing,” Cub reassured her, patting her on the back. “Xisuma’s a smart man, he’ll be fine. Probably not a bad idea to check in on him, though.”

Keralis nodded and stood up, placing his mug gently on the ground beside him. “I’m going. You guys don’t need to come with, if you don’t want to, but I need to know he’s okay. And if he needs help, I gotta help him. For everything he’s done for me, I owe him that.”

“I will come with,” Aster announced, standing up beside him. Not that surprising. Aster felt bad about being so busy in the past as well as the fact that Keralis died during the battle (which wasn’t her fault at all, but he could tell she was beating herself up about it) and kept trying to make it up to him by being glued to his side. He couldn’t complain, no, having her around helped a lot with his worrying and she was a very level-headed presence after the rest of his close friends had, well… you know.

What _was_ surprising was the next person to stand up. “I’ll come too,” Scar added, standing up as well. Keralis tilted his head, and Scar crossed his arms. “I care about Xisuma too. If there really is something fishy going on, I want to know about it.”

“Suit yourself. I’ll head back to Concorp, see if I can dig up anything useful over there,” Cub added, looking over at Lyra. “What about you, kid? Where you headed?”

Lyra barely needed any time to think at all. “I would like to go with Cub. There is something I need to do at ConCorp as well.” Aster frowned, but didn’t say anything, and Keralis decided not to think too much about it. 

“Alright, I guess we have a plan then. Amayzin!” Scar whistled, glancing about the motley crew. He nodded to his partner. “Cub, I’ll see you back at the base. Lyra, take care. If I don’t see either of you until after breakfast, save some cake for me, okay?” He winked at them and started off in the direction of Sahara. Keralis, not knowing what to say, mumbled a quick goodbye and hurriedly followed suit. 

***

Scar, Keralis, and Aster walked all the way to Sahara, which wasn’t really that far of a walk, given that they were already so close to the shopping district. They would have flown, but Aster couldn’t follow them, and if she was to come, they had to go it by foot. Honestly, if anything, the events of the past couple of weeks had given Scar a newfound appreciation for elytra travel. He missed being able to take to the sky and instantly travel to anywhere. Flying into random buildings wasn’t fun, but it beat having sore feet.

Soon enough, they approached the giant Architech structure. The glass storefront reached into the sky, towering over the “Shishwamy Search Party” (a term coined by Keralis, of course). As much as he loved to poke fun at the Sahara boys and their company, Scar knew he could never have come up with something as grandiose and complex on his own. It was a faulty system, sure, but a pretty clever one. And the work Grian did on the storefront really made it pop, as if the scale of the thing didn’t do that already. The contrast between the cyan terracotta and the white concrete looked nice, and the Sahara logo really stood out. And the sea lanterns in the A’s were a nice touch, too. Props to Grian. 

“Hello, boys,” a cocky voice called out from above. The three of them snapped up their heads at the sudden, unexpected noise to see Grian himself sitting on top of the diamond display case, kicking his legs out over the edge. “Oh, and hey, Aster.”

“Gosh, Brian, you scared us! What are you doing here?” Keralis asked.

Grian leaned forward and rested his elbows on his knees. “It’s Sahara. I work here, in case you haven't noticed.” Suddenly, he jumped off the side of the case and swooped down on his elytra, landing gracefully in the grass in front of them. “But I could ask you the same thing. I saw you guys disappear from the party, and you seemed _very_ suspicious. My detective senses were tingling, so I decided to follow you. And I have…” he glanced around at the trio and crossed his arms, “... significantly more questions than answers.” 

“We’re just seeing if X is here,” Scar explained. “There’s nothing suspicious about that.” When Grian still didn’t lower his guard, he sighed, “Oh my-- Grian, we aren’t here to rob you guys or anything! Diamonds are literally the last thing on our minds right now.”

Grian narrowed his eyes, but relaxed a little as their story sort of checked out. It made sense that he was so paranoid after everything that happened to him the past couple of weeks, what with his respawn blocked and waking up to visions and a full blown war and on top of it all getting tortured to betray his best friend. He did his best to hide it with jokes and pranks and alternate personas, but Scar could tell things were still rough on Grian’s end. And they had every right to be, but this was Scar and Keralis they were talking about. They hadn’t tried to hurt anyone before, why would they start now? 

“I’ll have you know Sahara’s been empty for days. I swing by here occasionally to--” Grian stopped talking as he realized he was saying too much. “Uhh, I work here. The rest is on a need to know basis, and you don’t need to know.”

Scar raised an eyebrow. “You’re building up your chair more, aren’t you?”

“Shut up.”

“Wait, so if Sahara is empty, then where is Shishwamy?” Keralis wondered aloud, probably to nudge them back on track, which was justified. “That was our only lead.”

Aster tapped a finger on her chin thoughtfully. “Maybe… Everyone has a base, right? What if he is just at his?” 

“He wasn’t this morning!” Keralis protested. “And I really looked.”

Grian threw out, trying to be somewhat helpful, “Maybe he’s at IDEA? Couldn’t tell you why he’d be there now, of all times, but I know that’s your guys’ thing.”

“No, no. He wouldn’t be there. Unless he _is_ there. Oh, this is so frustrating!”

Scar stared at the ground, thinking to himself. Where could Xisuma be? Clearly, the admin didn’t want to be found, but that was so unlike him. Xisuma was a people person. Now he was really worried. Ex was gone, Lyra was a good person, the sisters fixed everything wrong with the server, there was nothing in this world that could hurt him anymore. So why was he in hiding? As Scar watched the blades of grass dance in the wind, he suddenly realized something. 

“Wait, didn’t the secret bunker get blown up in the fight?” Scar asked, crouching down to inspect the area and feeling around in the dirt. “I’m pretty sure I heard someone say Ex came in here with tnt and destroyed the place to get to Mumbo and Zed. So why is everything so neat?”

“Huh, yeah, I think I did hear Mumbo say something of the sort,” Grian replied, searching his inventory for something. “Ex-eye-zooma-void must’ve fixed it for us when he was helping out over here. Worth a look, I’d reckon. But if the entrance is fixed, the security system is fixed as well, which means,” he pulled out both a button and an iron key card from his inventory and waved them in the others’ faces, “you need me to get in.”

“You’re coming with?” Keralis asked. 

“Of course I’m coming with,” Grian shot back, placing the button against the specific block of concrete and pressing it. As the stairs descended into the first level of the bunker, he continued, “I’m sure it’s been said before with you lot, but X is my friend too. And I can’t have you sneaking around corporate property unattended, no, no, no. I’ll hop in, disable the security system, and shout for you guys to come down. Easy peasy.”

“How will you disable security?” Aster inquired as she stepped down the staircase. “I was told these redstone things were a little outside of what you usually do.”

Grian shrugged. “Eh, I’ll just throw a potato somewhere. That usually works.”

And with that, he tossed the key card into the card-shaped slot and hopped down the water elevator to get to the bottom. A few seconds later, they heard clunking, a sort of powering-down noise, and then a garbled shout from below, distorted from the water noises coming from the elevator itself. Keralis chuckled quietly.

“Classic Brian,” he whispered and hopped down the elevator.

Aster’s face twisted into an expression of confusion. “I thought his name was Grian,” she whispered to herself, then hopped down after him. 

Scar, shaking his head and smiling, followed suit.

When he reached the bottom, the others were already chatting and laughing as Keralis recounted to Aster the story of the first potato thrown into Sahara and Grian butted in, trying to twist his words to make him sound completely innocent. Aster was laughing cheerfully and generally having a good time, occasionally throwing in small, playful slights at Grian’s expense. Scar figured it was best to leave them be — he could get a good look around the space while they chatted for a moment — and started off into the main room, which was mostly empty, aside from one newly built structure sitting in the center.

A structure that, as soon as he caught sight of it, stopped him dead in his tracks. 

No, not again. 

_“One sacrifice for an entire world. Think about it, Bdubs.”_

He staggered back as if to get away, and tripped over the last step of the staircase, falling backwards and hitting the ground with a heavy thud. For a moment, he was too stunned to do anything. 

_“We need the portal up_ _now_ _, and this is the only way to do it.”_

This couldn’t be happening. Scar was trying so hard to forget. He had worked so hard to move on from what happened to him. He knew that he wasn’t in danger anymore, that Lyra was a friend, and his friends would protect him, so he wasn’t alone anymore. It hadn’t been easy, but the nightmares ceased and the fears went away. But seeing that _thing_ right there in front of him brought back every horrible memory from his time in the pyramid. How did it get here? And why was it here? 

More importantly, hell, _most_ importantly, did Xisuma do this?

_“Bdubs, please, I don't want to die.”_

“Scar, Scar, are you okay?” he heard someone ask. Scar kept moving backwards, but more slowly this time since the impact from the fall did kind of hurt. Suddenly, Grian was at his side. “Hey, Scar, it’s okay. Calm down.” He investigated Scar to see if there were any visible injuries or problems, and upon seeing none, looked into his face for answers. Cringing, he turned over his shoulder and shouted towards the others, “Guys, Scar just fell and he’s looking really pale, can someone--” That’s when he noticed it. “Uhhh, guys? We have a problem.”

Hurried footsteps ran up behind him, stopping as soon as they noticed it too.

“Oh… my,” Aster breathed.

“Scary, hairy, larry,” Keralis muttered under his breath.

The structure they were referring to, as a matter of fact, was a prismarine rectangle shaped much like a nether portal. It stood upright on a platform of quartz slabs, and in front of it laid a quartz table. But it wasn’t a table, it was an altar, primed for a sacrifice. And though Scar was the only one who had ever seen it in person, everyone knew exactly what its presence meant. 

Someone was trying to get to the world between worlds.


	32. Life’s Not Fair

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Do you ever just... rewrite a whole chapter two hours before you wanna post because you realize that the chapter could be much cooler in someone else’s perspective? No lol couldn’t be me lol why would u think that lol 
> 
> (to anyone interested, it was originally Aster and it was BORING)

For a long while, they couldn’t do anything except stare at the looming portal before them, not knowing what to do, what to think. Grian hadn’t seen the portal that Lyra and Bdubs made before, at least, not in person. What glimpses he _did_ see came from a shaky video Scar had taken just moments before he was murdered and used as a human sacrifice, and that was when Grian had just woken up and was debriefed by Iskall and Tango, way back before they had even known EvilXisuma would make an appearance during this shitshow. Simpler times. But though his exposure to the thing was brief, Grian was well aware of what it was and what it did and the raw power it could hold. Scar had every right to be scared out of his wits.

Grian wasn’t scared, though. The portal wasn’t lit yet, so it couldn’t do them any harm. Instead, he was _pissed_. What _idiot_ would rebuild the portal to the world between worlds? It had to be a Hermit, too, since Aster and Lyra couldn’t place blocks. So one of his friends had to have come up with the ingenious idea to bust into the world between worlds and do… whatever it was they were planning on doing. That was the worst part of all of this, it was somebody they knew, one of their friends. 

Actually, wait, no. That wasn’t the worst part of this. The worst part of this was the fact that this monstrosity was built right under Grian’s nose. He’d spent most of his time in Sahara (admittedly avoiding the others a little bit) but the fact stood that he was most likely here when the thing was constructed. How often had he flown past the entrance to the bunker, oblivious? How often had he wandered Sahara’s halls and wide empty rooms, not realizing that a portal was being built that could destroy everything they’d worked so hard to repair? How didn’t he notice anything? 

One thing was for certain, of all the things he expected to see in the bunker, this was most definitely _not_ one of them.

“How did it get here?” Scar whispered, breathless. He made no effort to stand up, instead choosing to draw all of his limbs closer, almost curling up like a ball. “I-I thought we were done with this. Why would somebody… Who would do this?”

Grian had a pretty good guess, but he didn’t dare say it. Part of him still wanted to believe that this was a joke, that someone would come out from the side and say _“gotcha!”_ and explain that it was all a huge prank for a bit. But as more time passed, it became painfully clear that this was not a bit but for real. 

“I am not sure, but one thing is certain,” Aster huffed. “We need to put a stop to whoever did this before someone gets hurt.”

Just then, a groaning sound rose from somewhere to the right of them. Grian immediately drew his sword and stood at the ready. Scar scrambled behind him for immediate protection — which he was more than happy to provide since the poor guy was still kinda out of it — but soon began fumbling around in his inventory to find a weapon, eventually settling on an axe. Keralis drew his own sword, and from his shaky stance, Grian could tell he was really hoping whatever happened next didn’t have to end in a fight. Not that he was bad at combat, he just didn’t like fighting people. Aster leaned over the edge in an attempt to locate the source of the noise, to little avail. After all, she was basically useless if a fight did happen to break out, which was horrible, but it was what it was. Grian couldn’t blame her for that. 

To nobody’s surprise, a zombie appeared from the depths of the ruined dragon bro cave. 

To everyone’s surprise, Xisuma came running out right in front of it.

“Shishwamy?” Keralis gasped, running down the stairs to meet his friend. Grian lunged forward and grabbed the collar of his shirt, yanking him back. Keralis choked and stumbled, eventually pulling himself together enough to grumble in Grian’s direction for what sounded like “messing with his shirt”. He could take his irritation. After all, it was better than the alternative: letting him run headfirst into a situation they knew nothing about.

Upon hearing Keralis’s voice, Xisuma jumped a little, clearly not expecting any visitors. The zombie behind him, realizing that his soon-to-be victim was distracted, started shambling forward faster and lunged. Luckily, Xisuma heard the groans, dodged the attack, and quickly dispatched the zombie, sighing as the undead monster disappeared into a pile of XP and rotten flesh. Once that was taken care of, he turned to his fellow Hermits and grinned sheepishly. 

“Hello there,” Xisuma gave a half wave. “What are you lot doing here?”

“Shishwamy, what is all this?” Keralis asked, gesturing to the portal and the altar and the fallen zombie flesh. Huh, when you laid it all out like that, Xisuma had a lot of explaining to do.

“Yeah, X,” Grian added with an edge of suspicion in his voice, helping Scar up, who continued to stare, bug eyed, at the portal ahead of them. “What’s going on here? You disappear for days, nobody knows where you are, you don’t answer your chats, and we go looking for you only to find this thing that, to my knowledge, isn’t supposed to exist.” 

“I see you’re upset—” Xisuma began, raising his hands and taking a step forward. Grian stopped him by pointing his sword directly at eye level. 

“Upset? Damn right I’m upset,” Grian shot back. “X, we were done. We were done with that world, we were done with your brother, we were done with all of this. And now, there’s another portal to the world between worlds. So yeah, I’m upset.”

“Brian, calm down,” Keralis whispered softly, placing a hand on his shoulder. “I’m sure Shishwamy has a good explanation for all of this.”

Keralis, he looked so conflicted. Anyone could see how much he wanted to vouch for Xisuma, tell them that everything was under control because, well, it was _Xisuma_. He always seemed to do things for the good of everyone on the server because that was his job. He never ever let them down. Grian respected that, wanting to stick up for your friends, but he was sick of vouching. He wanted answers.

“Alright,” Grian snapped. “Yeah, there’s probably a great explanation for this, isn't there? So tell us, X, what's the explanation for this one?”

“I… uh, I guess I, well,” Xisuma sputtered. For once, the admin was at a loss for words. He rubbed the back of his neck. “I suppose there’s no use trying to hide it. You guys deserve the truth. I’m, uh, trying to get to the world between worlds.” 

Aster blinked. “You are trying to get to the world between worlds?” Of course, she probably figured this much already. They all had. But there was something about hearing him say it out loud that made it so much more real, so much more terrifying. 

“Yes.”

“Let me get this straight,” Grian shouted, “we fight EvilX with all of our might to force him into that place, our friends literally die in front of us, and if it weren’t for these guys,” he gestured towards Aster, “we wouldn’t have been able to get them back, and--”

“With all due respect, Ex also wouldn’t have been free in the first place if it weren’t for them.” He looked towards Aster and added, “No offense.”

Aster shrugged. “None taken.”

“Whatever,” Grian continued. “So we do all of that to get Ex back, and now you want to go back there? And do what? Free him?”

“I don’t want to free him,” Xisuma clarified. He was trying really hard to keep his cool, to save face, but as he glanced around the room, he saw four pairs of eyes staring, judgingly, back. “Listen, I know how this looks. You think that for some reason, I want to bring Ex back here. Well, I don’t. I just…” he looked down at his feet, his shoulders slouching. “I just want to talk to him. This whole thing is my fault. I should have been more understanding, I should have tried a bit harder to get through to him.”

“I mean, was pretty difficult to get through to him. He _was_ trying to kill you,” Keralis quietly offered as consolation. 

Xisuma just shook his head. “Not… I’m not talking about this time. I’m not sorry about what I did this time. I mean the first time I locked him away, before you came here, Keralis. All of his anger, all of the things he did, it was to get back at me for the things I did. Things I need to make right.” He turned to Aster once again. “If there’s one thing I’ve learned from this experience, it’s that you stick up for your family, you help them out even when things get rough. A long time ago, I wasn’t there for him. And now, I really need to be. He can’t be here, yeah, thats a given, but I can be there.”

“Wait, so your plan is to bring yourself to the world between worlds?” Scar gasped, walking over to where Xisuma was standing. “X, we need you here! What if you leave and you can’t come back? What would we do without our admin?”

“I feel like that’s a risk I just have to take,” Xisuma admitted. 

“So leaving us behind to chase after your evil twin is okay?” Grian huffed. 

“Grian, please,” Xisuma sighed. “What do you want me to say? I didn’t mean to drag you into this, I was trying to figure it out on my own, but you guys showed up.”

Grian could have laughed. “Don’t pretend that you’re doing this for us. The only person you’re thinking about here is yourself! You and I both know this portal requires a sacrifice. You’re gonna kill one of us just so you can talk to the enemy.”

“He’s not the enemy, he’s my brother!” Xisuma shouted back.

“Yeah, who tried to destroy the server and everyone in it, if you remember!” 

That’s enough!” Keralis shouted, shutting both sides up. Nobody had ever heard him speak louder than his usual soft muttering before, and the sudden burst of noise was enough to startle everyone into silence. It would’ve been impressive, if he wasn’t yelling at Grian too. “Brian, at the very least allow him to try to explain himself, please? And Shishwamy,” he looked up from the ground and into Keralis’s huge eyes, brimming with concern, “are you sure it will be worth it, seeing EvilShishwamy again? Are you certain he won’t just try to hurt you?”

“He can’t hurt me there,” Xisuma assured him. “As for whether or not it will be worth it…” he thought to himself for a moment, “I dunno. I’d like to hope it will be. But there’s only one way to find out.”

Keralis nodded. “Then we will help you.”

“What? For real?” Grian blurted in surprise. 

Scar agreed, concerned, “Keralis, how can we--”

“We will guard the portal when Shishwamy goes through it!” he told them. “Make sure the right things go in and the right things come out. He can’t do this without help. It can be just us four guarding the thing, we don’t need to worry the others. Besides, the portal needs a sacrifice, correct?” 

Xisuma shifted, uncomfy. “Well, yeah, I was hoping I could use a mob instead--”

“It will not work,” Aster interjected. “The portal may be made of minecraft blocks, but its magic is not of this world. It has to be powered with some kind of external energy. The energy that can open a rift like this is the same kind that Lyra and I are gifted with. And all of it has rules.” She walked up to the portal and inspected it carefully. “In simple terms, I believe that to create a rift between worlds, something must be destroyed of greater or equal value. Lyra chose a player’s life. Personally, I think that is all we have access to that can do such a thing.” She glanced around at the somber faces, all of them uncomfortable with the news. “Of course, this is just speculation. Nothing is concrete.”

Keralis stepped forward. “I’ll do it, then.”

“Keralis, no,” Xisuma replied almost immediately. “I’m not making you do this for me, no.” He turned to Aster. “There has to be another way. Right? This can’t be it. You said greater or equal value right? How many mobs equal a player's life?”

“I… don’t know,” she candidly replied. 

“Shishwamy, you aren’t making me do anything,” Keralis explained, placing a hand on his friend’s shoulder. “I want to help you talk to your brother. Besides, it’s not like I’m gonna stay dead or anything like that. Scar and Brian died, and they’re okay!”

Scar raised an eyebrow. “Define okay.”

Ignoring him, Keralis continued, “Shishwamy, let me help you. I want you to be happy, and if this makes your sweet face happy, then I want to do it. How bad can it be?” He shrugged. 

“Okay, I guess it would be stupid to refuse help at this point,” Xisuma admitted. “As much as I don’t like it, sure, you can be the… sacrifice. I hate that word so much.”

“But first…” Keralis said, resting his arm around the admin’s shoulders and leading him towards the doorway, “all of your friends are very very worried about you, and you need to take a break. I say, we take a day to collect ourselves, get prepared, and then find EvilShishwamy. Sound good everybody?”

Everyone nodded in agreement. Everyone, that is, except Grian. 

“Brian? Sound good?”

_It’s not fair._

“Brian? Brian, you there?”

“No,” he plainly replied. His mouth was dry.

“What?” Keralis asked. 

“No. It doesn’t sound good, no.”

“Grian, it’s okay,” Scar assured him. “I was skeptical at first, but this sounds like a pretty decent plan, if I do say so myself. We gotta help Xisuma here. Nobody will be permanently hurt. Everything’s okay.”

“No, no it’s not okay.” His eyes were brimming with tears. He didn’t know why. “It’s not okay that he gets to do that. That he gets to…” Grian sniffed loudly and backed away. 

“Grian, what’s wrong?” Scar reached out to him but Grian pulled away sharply. He took one last look at the four concerned faces, _judging him._ worried for him, and dashed up the stairs. Several of them called out to him, someone tried to follow him, but he was too fast. He ran through the lobby, up the water stream, up the second flight of stairs, whipped out his rockets and took to the sky. 

_It’s not fair, it’s not fair, it’s not fair._

When Grian finally stopped flying and touched down, he found himself sitting at the top of his base on the cold white concrete, looking up at the empty expanse of space. Well, not completely empty. The sky was full of twinkling stars and a full moon. On any other night, he would’ve been running towards a bed or asking someone else to do so. But these days he wasn’t too keen on sleeping, and as he stared up into the sky to distract himself from the mixed emotions brewing in his mind, emotions he hadn’t felt for a few years now, he took a few deep breaths and instead focused on the heavenly bodies in the crystal clear night sky. 

_In and out._

_In and out._

_Try not to think about them. _

_In and out._

Eventually, he calmed himself down enough that his tears dried and his breathing slowed. Those mixed emotions were still there, those weren’t going away anytime soon, but they seemed more manageable now. He hugged his knees to his chest and whispered to nobody in particular, “It’s not fair.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *to the tune of hermitgang*  
> GRIAN ANGST  
> GRIAN ANGST  
> GRIAN ANGST  
> GRIAN ANGST
> 
> I do not give this man a single break I’m so sorry


	33. An Unconventional Scientific Study

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Howdy folks! As your friendly neighborhood queer cactus, I would like to wish y’all the happiest of pride months! And to my fellow friends who are out of school: Hooray! You did it!! School year is over!!!

The walk back from the shopping district was mostly uneventful. Cub had been keeping to himself since the group had parted ways for the night, minding his own business and giving Lyra some space. It had been a hard few weeks for the poor girl, and the last thing she probably needed was any more prying questions, but that didn’t mean he didn’t have any. Lyra was equally as quiet and seemed to be spending her time peacefully taking in the cool night air. That, or she was deep in thought, with the latter seeming more likely. After all, she had spent the last few days trying and failing to solve the server’s biggest problem: how she was gonna wake up Bdubs. No doubt it was what compelled her to skip the search party tonight and go back to Concorp instead. She wanted to spend some more time fixing her last big mistake, choosing to throw herself into her work rather than deal with her problems. 

And from what little he’d heard from Scar, Lyra had a lot of problems. 

_ “I just feel so bad for her, you know?” Scar had told him. He was sitting on the desk next to where Cub was reprogramming some of the drones, a few minutes before they headed off to the bonfire. “I can tell she’s not doing so good with all of this, as much as she wants to pretend it never happened.” _

_ Cub didn’t look up from his work. “Have you tried talking to her about it?” _

_ “No,” he sighed, frustrated, and began picking at the rim of his hat. “It’s not that I don’t want to, it's just the worry that dragging too much of that up will leave her feeling even worse. And I don’t wanna do that to her.” _

_ “How about I talk to her?” _

_ “What? Cub, I’m not saying you should do this for me.” _

_ “I know you’re not. But  _ _ I’m _ _ saying I want to.” Cub swirled around in his chair to face Scar, who still seemed unsure. “Lyra’s a good kid, and I wanna help her out. Besides, it’s equally unhealthy for you to have to worry about her wellbeing all the time. I’ll talk to her, I’ll see if she wants to talk about it. If she does, we’ll talk. If she doesn’t, we leave it be.” Cub grinned. “That way, if something goes wrong, you don’t have to be the bad guy.” _

_ Scar chuckled and shook his head. “If you say so.” _

When Lyra had decided to go with Cub, he knew this was his chance to get a feel for how she was feeling. But that realization was closely followed by some worry. Sure, he had an opening to get through to her, but how would he use it? After some internal debating of how to even begin talking about her issues, Cub made the executive decision to just figure it out as he went. He cleared his throat to get Lyra’s attention, and her eyes immediately snapped up to meet his own, her deep train of thought immediately derailing at the sound of his voice. Reading her face, Cub saw a mixture of confusion and what could be some sort of relief. 

“So, Lyra,” Cub began, somewhat awkwardly. “How ya been?”

“Fine, I guess,” she replied plainly. If he didn’t know any better, he might’ve believed her. But he certainly knew better.

Cub glanced over at her with doubt. “Call me crazy, but I don’t believe you.” When Lyra shot back a questioning look, he elaborated, “Scar told me that you and EvilX were pretty close. That you remembered something during your conversation with him and it messed you up pretty bad.”

Her face twisted into a cringe. “He did. Huh.”

“Hey, no need to be upset, he only meant the best by it,” Cub hurriedly explained. Shit. The last thing he wanted was to jeopardize  _ their _ relationship. It was obvious that Lyra trusted Scar with a trust she rarely placed in anyone, maybe even more than she placed in her own sister. And Scar clearly liked her too. Despite the fact that Lyra basically had him murdered, he readily forgave her when he saw how much she had changed, going so far as to do everything in his power to convince the others to see what he’d seen in her. He befriended her when nobody else would. Say what you would about Scar, but there was no denying he was the heart of the Hermitcraft server. Which was why Cub had to make sure Lyra knew that she could still trust him. 

He continued, “Scar just wanted to know how something like that was possible, and if I knew anything about how a memory like yours works. So I could help you if you needed it. He didn’t tell anyone else and he didn’t mean to break your trust, believe me.”

“I believe you,” she replied, still a little put off but at the very least understanding. “So, what did you tell him? Do you know anything about my memory?”

“Not really. But, while I may not know much — or anything for that matter — about people like you, I suppose I’m not that surprised if what gets deleted doesn’t always stay deleted. After all, you know, Ex… ” Lyra nodded, unsure of how to respond. “Um so yeah, since he said that, I couldn’t help but wonder how you’re faring with that information. You’ve been playing it off real well, being a team player, working hard to right all the wrongs, but I have a feeling a discovery like that is still eating you up inside. Have you told your sister?”

Lyra looked away. “No. I just… I worry that she will try to fix it. Stop me from remembering. But I feel like I am  _ supposed _ to remember, if that makes any sense.”

“It does,” Cub assured her. “And believe me, Scar and I have zero intentions of saying anything you don’t want us to say. But you should know, it’s really not healthy to deal with that kind of stuff on your own. For what it’s worth, we’re here for you if you ever want to talk about it.” 

“To be honest, I have not had much time to think about it,” Lyra told him, shrugging. “Like yeah, when I am reminded of what I did, betraying him and all, it hurts a lot. But helping people, interacting with people, and the whole, um, Bdubs thing has kept me pretty busy. I rarely have the time to dwell on such things.”

“Keeping busy, that’s cool, that’s cool,” Cub awkwardly replied. A stretch of silence followed as Cub contemplated how to proceed. Lyra wasn’t exactly the easiest person to read, and he had no clue whether or not he was helping or just reminding her even more of what she did. He wasn’t usually one for intense heart to hearts anyways — that job was probably better left to Scar — but he said he’d take care of it, so here he was, taking care of it. Lucky for him, he didn’t have to take care of it much longer, as Concorp was in sight now. As the towering gateway and muffled sound of villager voices combined with the grumbling of Wololo cut through the night sky, Cub felt a little more at ease. 

He stopped in the gateway of the company grounds as something else occurred to him, something Scar said about their encounter in the woods that he wanted to ask about for a while. The conversation was due for a topic change anyways, it’d be okay if they spent a little time not worrying about all of the feelings stuff and did something else instead. “There is one thing I’m still curious about, if you don’t mind me asking.”

“Go ahead,” Lyra cautiously replied. 

“When Scar told me about what happened to you guys in the woods when I wasn’t looking, he said you almost attacked him out of fear. You had glowing red hands or something.” He waved his hands around to emphasize his point. Lyra looked to the ground sheepishly, but she nodded in confirmation. “I get the magic stuff, I’ve seen you and Aster do magic before and honestly, not even the first time I’ve seen magic. What I don’t get is why it was red. I don’t think either of you have ever done something red before. I know there’s a color coordination system that exists for you two: blue is for healing, green is for viruses. So what would red be?”

Lyra thought for a moment, but she seemed almost taken aback, like this was news to her as well. “I have no idea. I did not give it much thought at the time either, I just reacted. It felt right, though, if that makes any sense, like the magic was right for me.”

“Fantastic,” Cub muttered. That didn’t sound strange and concerning at  _ all _ . 

“But you have a point, I think the color does have a purpose, but I honestly could not tell you what that purpose would be.” Suddenly, Lyra’s face lit up. “Maybe there is a way to find out!”

“I don’t like the sound of that. Go on.”

“What if we repeat the circumstances?” Lyra suggested. “You attack me, and I try to respond. Maybe I can use the red magic again, and we can figure out what it does!” 

Cub shook his head. “No, no way.”

“Why?”

“Why? Because I’m not gonna attack you, Lyra, you could get hurt.”

“I have no form, I cannot truly be hurt by your weapons. Probably. At least, that was what I was told.”

“Convincing. I don’t wanna take that risk. Besides, it’s late, we should be turning in for the night.”

“Please?” she begged him, her red eyes sparkling in the moonlight. “For science?” 

So, she really wanted to do this. Truth be told, a part of Cub really wanted to do this too. As much as he had focused on capitalism and technical stuff this season, he couldn’t deny that the idea of learning more about magic enticed him. He had dealt with in-game magic before, hell, he and Scar had dealt with the Vex more times than he could count. But this wasn’t the Vex, this was something bigger than that, bigger than all of them. A once in a lifetime opportunity to peek into what lies beyond the world limits. To test something dark and mysterious out with a being probably more powerful than even Xisuma, though she didn’t quite know how to use the power she was given yet. 

So against his better judgement, Cub sighed and crossed his arms. “Fine. Just this once, and we tell nobody. If Aster or Scar think either of us was in danger at all, even a little bit, it’s bad news. Mainly for me, but still.”

“I would never,” Lyra replied, grinning like an idiot. She backed up a little to give him some space. “So, I guess you can just come at me? I know you are coming, so it will not be as effective as when Scar surprised me in the woods, but I think the fear from being attacked will do alright.”

“That is the plan,” Cub answered, drawing his sword from his inventory. “Alright, Lyra, you ready?”

“As I will ever be,” she replied, raising her fists.

Cub raised his sword and charged at Lyra, who dodged his dash with ease. When he looked back, she seemed to be concentrating extremely hard, trying to find the magic she claimed came so naturally to her. But, nothing was happening, so Cub raised his sword and swung again. The first two swings Lyra avoided, but her sparring skills weren’t the cleanest, and the third swipe hit her hard in the arm she raised to defend herself. 

Now, Cub didn’t entirely understand the mechanics of Lyra’s form, or lack thereof, but as soon as he landed his attack, his sword moved through her as if her body was made of molasses, slow and sticky, almost like how it felt to poke Jevin with something. The cut wasn’t that deep, and it didn’t exactly leave the mark a cut would anyways. Instead, it looked as if the arm that got hit was made of mist, with a few of the particles dissipating into the air all  _ Infinity War _ style. Shocked, Lyra stumbled back, and Cub silently cursed himself for not being more careful. He started to put away his sword and reach out to help her, but Lyra clutched her arm close, drew back, and shouted:

“No! I can do this, keep fighting!”

“Lyra—”

“Come  _ on _ !” 

And with that, Lyra stepped forward and pushed Cub back with her good arm. It wasn’t a hard push by any means, but he stumbled a bit regardless, caught off guard by her “attack”. Almost as a reflex, he raised his sword again to fight back, all the while thinking,  _ This is a horrible idea. She’s gonna get hurt, and Scar’s gonna kill me.  _ Cut to the left, cut to the right, swing down. He tried to keep his attacks in a somewhat predictable pattern so at the very least Lyra could dodge them while she tried to figure out the magic within her. 

Another one of his attacks landed, this time hitting Lyra in the side, and she gasped out. Not so much in pain as in surprise, but still, it was uncomfortable to watch. Once again, more particles of her drifted into the air. And once again, she furrowed her brow and concentrated even harder on holding herself together. Because of that, she was distracted, and the next hit sent her tumbling to the ground. _ Okay, she’s down. One last scare, one last try, then we’re  _ _ done _ _.  _ Cub lifted his sword one last time (fully intending to miss) and swung downwards at her. Lyra reached up her hand in a feeble attempt to catch his sword.

As she did so, both her hands and his sword turned a bright, fiery red, and suddenly, the sword disappeared. 

For a moment, Cub wasn’t sure what had just happened. “Uhhh, what?” 

Lyra wore the exact same blank expression. “Your sword is gone. Where did your sword go?”

“You tell me.”

“You mean, it is not in your inventory?” Cub shook his head. “Did it break?” 

“No, the thing was at least at half durability.”

“You mean, I did that? I am so sorry!” Lyra exclaimed, scrambling to her feet. “I saw you come towards me and I needed to do something and I wanted the sword to disappear so it disappeared. But things do not simply disappear into thin air!” As she said that, she reached out her hands, and the sword materialized right in front of her, falling to the ground with a  _ clang! _

They just stared at it for a few moments.

“Huh,” Cub muttered. “Well, at least now we know what the red magic does.”

“This is… bizarre,” Lyra added. “Of all the things this power could do, it makes a sword disappear and reappear. Like a magic trick. Wait, I wonder what else I can do that to?” 

“One way to find out.” Cub pulled an assortment of items out of his inventory. Some golden carrots, dirt, a few rockets, cobblestone. Nothing of too much value (in case she struggled on the “bringing it back” part) but a variety of stuff they could experiment on just to see. Sure enough, when Lyra reached out to touch each item, concentrating deeply as she did so, both her hands and the item flashed red and then the item disappeared into thin air. Then, she concentrated for a few more seconds, and the item popped back into existence. The more she did it, the faster she could make each object disappear.

“So strange,” Cub mused as he watched her work. He tapped his chin thoughtfully. “Where do you think all this stuff goes? Or do you know already?”

Lyra shrugged. “I have no idea. I believe they might be deleted, almost like my memories were supposed to be, but this is different.” She paused, then suddenly became very pale. “Oh god, I almost did this to Scar. When I tried to defend myself in the woods, I could have deleted Scar.”

“Hey, hey, don’t think like that,” Cub stopped her. “First of all, you didn’t delete Scar, so you did nothing wrong. Like you said, it felt natural, you weren’t trying to hurt him. Second of all, even if you had, we would’ve helped you fix it. Third of all, we don’t even know if you can delete a person and,” he raised his hands in surrender, “we’re not gonna find out. But last time I checked, the only thing that could get rid of a Hermit is the ban button, and only Xisuma has access to that at the moment.”

“Yeah, you are right, I probably cannot delete people.” Lyra’s face lit up for the second time as she came to another realization. “Wait, I think I can delete people. I might have done it before.”

That definitely didn’t sound good. Cub raised an eyebrow. “Are you getting another memory?”

“No, no, I am just making a connection,” she replied, smiling to herself. She made eye contact with Cub. Dang, this was the happiest he’d ever seen the girl, which was weird, given that she was talking about having deleted someone before. “But if I can delete people, I can bring them back, right? Their consciousness has to be somewhere, like where the sword and the carrots and the dirt went. All I have to do is locate it and bring it back! Cub, do you know what this means?!”

“No.”

Her voice was breathless with excitement. “I think now I know what is wrong with Bdubs and, more importantly, how to to save him!”

***

Keralis tilted his head in confusion. “Ok, once more from the top, a little slower. What exactly is going on with Bubbles?”

Lyra nodded. She didn’t expect them to understand the first time. After all, they hadn’t seen what she was capable of like Cub did. Maybe it was better that way, though, since the worst thing would be them learning to fear her just now. “Well, it’s actually quite simple--”

Scar chuckled to himself and nudged Cub with his elbow. “Someone’s been spending too much time with the redstoners.”

Lyra didn’t get the joke, but she continued nonetheless. She gestured to the book that Cub had placed on a lectern for her to reference, which showed a crudely drawn stick figure Bdubs (which had spiky hair and a bandanna, though she didn’t remember seeing a bandanna anywhere) and stick figure Lyra, but with angry eyebrows to show that it was the evil version of herself. “As you may know, players’ forms can only handle one person in control at a time. So when I used my powers to take his form for my own, his consciousness left his body and went somewhere else while I controlled what was left.” Cub turned the page and the two stick figures were replaced by a stick figure Bdubs and a brain shape to represent his mind. “Then, when Aster tried to heal Bdubs in the battle, forcing me out and then fixing my memory,” once again, Cub turned the page, and there were once again two stick figures, “Bdubs’ form was left intact, I was my own person again, but Bdubs’ mind was not replaced. That is why he has not woken up yet, because he simply is not there.”

“So if he isn’t there, then where is he?” Xisuma asked. “He’s not just gone, is he?”

Lyra shrugged. “My best guess? The world between worlds.”

“With my  _ brother _ ?!” Xisuma exclaimed, jumping to his feet. The room was filled with distressed murmurs of agreement. “You mean to tell me that he’s been in there this whole time, and we just trapped him with Ex?”

“Calm down, guys, it’s okay,” Cub warned everyone. “From the sound of it, the world between worlds is a big place. The likelihood that Bdubs and Ex even see each other out there is slim.”

“Besides, Ex has no power in the world between worlds. Nobody does,” Aster jumped in, trying her best to quell any lingering fears. “It’s a void of nothingness and broken pieces from other worlds. Everything just floats in there until it eventually disappears.”

Scar crossed his arms. “Okay, I guess this makes sense, but what exactly do we do with this information? Send a search party in there to find him or something? But with Ex running around, that could be really dangerous, and frankly, I’m tired of dangerous.”

“No, no, that would not be necessary,” Lyra replied. “Honestly, I was going to start trying to locate him before you got here, but Cub told me it was best to debrief you since you were so close. I think I have the ability to bring him back, without the portal and without entering the world between worlds myself.”

Aster cocked her head. “What sort of power would that be? I have never seen you do more than create viruses and perform simple healing before, are you sure that is even possible?”

Lyra exchanged nervous glances with Cub before responding simply, “Cub brought to my attention that I did have some unknown power,” she fumbled for the right words to say to avoid suspicion while reassuring the Hermits and Aster that she knew what she was talking about, which was quickly proving to be not that easy of a task. “We tested it to see what it did. Safely. Nobody was in any sort of danger at any time. And our science was successful.”

“Well, that was vague and mildly worrying,” Scar remarked. He clapped his hands. “So, Lyra brings Bdubs back from the void, and then everyone’s safe? No more Ex, no more viruses, no more chaos other than the usual?” Lyra nodded. “Then I’m in. Need any help with anything?” 

“Nothing tangible. And not from you.” Lyra turned to Xisuma. “I guess I just need your permission. I know this whole world between worlds thing is scary, and you do not like the idea of people going there, but I swear I know what I am doing. I can save your friend.” 

Everyone exchanged awkward looks at this point, and Xisuma in particular seemed the most uncomfortable. Cub glanced at Scar as if to ask something, but Scar simply shook his head and mouthed  _ later _ . So something was going on that she wasn’t being told about. Good to know. At least Cub was also in the dark, that meant the leaving out wasn’t intentional.

“Sure, Lyra, I trust you,” Xisuma replied casually, doing his best to ignore all the pointed glances coming his way. “Where is Bdubs now? We can head over and start figuring stuff out--”

“That is the other thing…” Lyra cut him off. “Magic is tricky, it requires a lot of time and concentration, especially this one, which is extremely fragile and kind of unfamiliar. For this procedure, I am going to have to ask you, all of you, to leave me be. If I am going to bring your friend back, I will need to do this one alone.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Also, I’m at well over 2k hits now for ATTG and this is literally the most bizarre thing ever! It’s so surreal to me that I wrote something that real people enjoy reading, especially since this is my first interaction online with anybody in the Hermitcraft fandom and my first multichapter fic I’ve ever written. So thank you, from the bottom of my heart, for reading this story, leaving comments, leaving kudos. It means the world to me <3


	34. The Waiting Game

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heyyyy..... hey.... how y’all doin  
> It’s me, ya boi, Cactus. I’m BACK with a fun funky fresh new chapter full of conversations and (what’s this?) an actual plot point??? Omg! Maybe this story does in fact have an ending! Incredible! 
> 
> This chapter also be hella long so whoops. Figured it was better to send these two perspectives out in one go rather than break it up and prolong the story more than I already have :/

Xisuma leaned against the wall, listening to Keralis play with his dogs in another part of the bunker and watching as Aster puttered anxiously about the room. After the meeting at Concorp when Lyra had politely asked them all to leave, Keralis had suggested that the three of them go to New New Hermitville in order to make the area presentable for Bdubs to move back in. Of course, there was the diorite castle on the horizon, where Bdubs  _ really _ lived, but all of them collectively agreed it would be weird to intrude on an unfinished project. They wouldn’t know what to touch and what to leave alone, and the last thing they needed was Bdubs to come back to a messed up base. 

That is, if he came back at all. Lyra had sounded fairly confident in the meeting, X had to give her that much, but he knew that sometimes to give people the hope they needed, you had to sound sure of yourself even when you weren’t. It was one of the first things you learned as an admin. Whenever somebody has a problem, say lag, you tell them you’ll have it fixed in no time, and then you get on it and do your best. Even if it takes all day, a ton of research, and a few moments where you stare blankly at the admin screens, not sure where to even begin. 

Basically, Xisuma had a general idea of what Lyra was going through. He saw the pained smile on her face. He saw how she held her hands behind her back so nobody could see them shaking. He saw how her eyes flicked between Cub, the one who knew what she was trying to do, and himself, the one who would be giving her permission, while she spoke, as if she was searching for some sort of validation from either of their faces. More likely than not, Lyra had little idea if what she was doing was going to work, and she worried that she was going to let them all down again. 

So, as much as Xisuma was curious about Lyra’s new “power” — specifically the methods she and Cub used to discover said power — he figured it was best to trust the poor girl and leave her be. Which was a hard decision to make, since he wanted so badly to be there in the room with her, to make sure Lyra was careful, and to sit by Bdubs’ side until he woke up. However, in this particular instance, the hands off approach was the best one to take. So instead of sitting around worrying about what was so far out of their control, they chose to clean up a few of Bdubs’ houses and hang out afterwards in Keralis’s surprisingly sanitary sewer.

“Any messages?” Aster finally asked, taking a seat on the quartz couch in front of Xisuma. He checked his communicator, knowing full well that he’d be met with an empty screen. Group chats had slowed to a halt as everybody anxiously anticipated the news of their last friend’s revival, so there was no buzzing, no pinging, no filler noise from people asking for updates. Very uncharacteristic of the Hermits, as they constantly stayed in touch with one another and especially Xisuma. 

He looked up at Aster and shook his head at the lack of responses. She, in turn, nodded in acknowledgment, stood back up, and began to pace about again. “Okay. No response is not a bad thing. Magic is touchy, it could be taking a long while.” 

Clearly, someone wasn’t taking the separation very well. 

“You know, this doesn’t mean that she hates you,” Xisuma remarked, leaning back in his seat. 

Aster stopped her pacing and faced him. “I know that. I just cannot understand why she would not let me help. I am her sister.”

“And she’s her own person,” Xisuma replied, casually putting away his communicator. “She’s gonna want to make her own way in the world. If I may?” 

“Of course, go on.”

“You care a lot about her, you want her to be safe, but Lyra doesn’t need a protector. She needs a sister. You might be stifling her chances at growth by being on her back all the time. Believe me, I get how hard it is when you want to be in control of a situation but can’t. Forcing involvement can be much worse than just letting things run their course.”

“I mean... I suppose... “ Aster sighed and took her seat across from him again. She leaned forward and quietly added, “I worry about her. This new power of hers certainly does not make things easier. I have no clue where it comes from, how it works, how to help her figure it out. I pretend to know everything about magic and energy but the truth is: I have barely scratched the surface on what is possible and now we are reaching a point where the unknown can be dangerous. Frankly, all these unanswered questions are terrifying.”

Xisuma shrugged. “I guess the only way to get the answers you want is to let her try and figure it out for herself.”

Aster stared blankly into the fireplace as she pondered his words. There was no telling what she understood, what she accepted, what she would do with the information next, but X really hoped it would be something good. 

“I suppose,” Aster snipped. She stood up and straightened her dress. “I am going to go outside and get some fresh air.” And with that, she turned on her heel and left. Xisuma sighed and slouched back on the couch. Guess he hadn’t gotten through to her as much as he thought he did. That was okay, though. Another thing he learned from being an admin was that you didn’t win them all.

As she left the room, Keralis quickly took her place, giggling and grinning and sweating from running around with the dogs. He plopped down on the couch where Aster had sat seconds before and panted happily. 

“Piña and Colada are clever girls,” Keralis said. “Very energetic girls, too, gave me quite the run. I missed them so so much, very glad to be back. You glad to be back, Shishwamy?”

“Well, I’ve barely been over here,” he admitted, glancing around at the modern style room, a _ very _ Keralis build. “Probably once or twice to drop off some supplies, so it’s hardly home or anything—“

“No, no, no,” Keralis laughed, sitting up straighter. “I mean, mi casa es su casa, Shishwamy, but I wasn’t talking about here, my bunker. I meant back to normal server stuff, where the biggest problem is lag or creeper holes or stuff like that.” He paused. “Not the crazy other world stuff we’ve been dealing with.”

“That’s a silly question, of course I’m glad we’re back! As much as I’m going to miss chasing around evil versions of people,” he added somewhat sarcastically. 

Keralis raised an eyebrow. “Are you sure? Because that’s not the vibe I’m getting from you.”

Xisuma‘s stomach turned. Great, so now he was about to get told off by Keralis. That was certainly a new one. It made sense, since the last time they really talked was beneath Sahara, when Keralis and company discovered him, the zombie, and the portal. Xisuma really should’ve known it wouldn’t blow over that easily with his wide-eyed friend; Keralis had a way of weaseling anything he wanted out of you and never forgot a single unaddressed wrongdoing. X rubbed his eyes. “Not right now, man. Some other time, but not right now.”

“No, now’s perfectly fine,” Keralis insisted, staring him directly in the eyes. “If we don’t talk now, then when? There won’t be talking until the next season, and by then there will be no point.” His hard expression melted away into exhausted concern. “Shishwamy, why didn’t you tell us? Why didn’t you tell  _ me _ ?”

“I didn’t want you guys getting involved. And I guess I was afraid that you’d think less of me for wanting to see him,” Xisuma admitted, somewhat defeatedly. “The plan wasn’t to set him free — I don’t think I’ll ever let him back here after what he did to you guys — but I wanted him to know I didn’t hate him or wished him harm or something like that.”

An uncomfortable silence fell about the room. “Shishwamy, this is getting old,” Keralis finally spoke, more serious than he’d ever been. His tone was like that of a parent that ‘wasn’t mad, just disappointed’. “The lying, the secrets, the worry that the other people will hate us for what we’ve done. We’ve been on both sides of it now, we should know better.“

Xisuma rubbed his eyes. Keralis had a point. His mind flashed back to when he had to give this talk to Keralis. Back to when he had kept Aster’s existence a secret for days and had only come forward with the truth when they lost both Bdubs and Scar in one day. Back when things were simpler. Hadn’t he said those very words once? No more lying, no more secrets? And here they were, so many lies and secrets later, sitting in front of each other and realizing just how messy they had made things. 

Specifically, how messy  _ Xisuma _ had made things. After all, this was all his fault, wasn’t it. Keralis’s secret had only delayed a solution and caused some mild mistrust, Xisuma’s could have destroyed the server at worst case scenario and just someone’s life at best. Which… still wasn’t good. Honestly, there was no telling what could have gone down had Keralis and company not showed up to propose another way. 

_ How far would I have gone to see my brother? What would I have done to see him? Would I have become him?  _

_ No, I wouldn’t have hurt anyone. Of course not. _

_ But I’ll never know for certain. _

Enough of that madness, that didn’t matter right now. What mattered was Keralis, looking for answers in Xisuma’s face, trying to find some sort of resolution in his shielded eyes. 

“I... don’t know what to tell you, Keralis,” Xisuma confessed. “I’ve made a ton of bad calls since this thing began, and I don’t honestly know what to say to fix that, to change anything. Truth is, I’ve been so tired of winning but losing. We beat Lyra but Ex is back, we save our friends but Bdubs is basically dead, we defeat Ex but I have to ban him without even getting a chance to explain. And I hoped, for once, that I could actually do something that didn’t hurt anyone. But, as we figured out, that wasn’t even possible; someone always gets hurt.” His voice hitched in his throat, and for the first time in a while “I’m a bad leader.”

“You aren’t a bad leader, Shishwamy,” Keralis told him. “You’re human. And humans make mistakes. It’s what makes a human. Very cliche.” He chuckled at his own awkwardness, and Xisuma couldn’t help but join in. “I’m not looking for an apology, I’m not looking for some grand plan to fix everything, I suppose I’m looking more for your honesty, Shishwamy. Like be honest with me and tell me: could you maybe be more honest with me?” 

“Of course,” Xisuma answered. 

“Then, that’s all I’ll need to know.” Keralis sighed. “The world is much bigger than we could have ever thought, Shishwamy. It’s big, it’s scary, it’s dangerous sometimes. We gotta be able to hold onto something when the going gets rough.” He cracked a half-smile. “Why not hold onto each other?”

***

“Damn it!” Lyra shouted, slamming her fists on the table in front of her. It barely made a sound, a dull thud at most, which was very disappointing. She’d expected a slam, a bang,  _ something  _ to show that her existence meant something. Instead, she got nothing, which was exactly what she had in front of her concerning the Bdubs situation: just an empty shell of a form and a magic puzzle she was yet to solve. 

“Woah, language,” a voice chuckled from behind her. Lyra turned to see Scar entering the room, a sweet smile on his face and holding a small bundle in his arms. His hands clearly occupied, he kicked the door closed behind him and strode up to her with all the confidence in the world. “You’re just about the last person I’d expect to hear something like that out of.”

“It has been a long week, I think I earned the right,” Lyra grumbled, collapsing into a nearby chair and resting her head in her hands. Scar shrugged and pulled up a seat of his own, shifting the bundle in his arms as he did so. “Anyways, I thought I told you guys to stay out of here. I cannot focus while people just stare at me with their big eyes, expecting me to work a miracle in a matter of seconds.” 

Scar looked down at her with pity. “Yeah, well, we didn’t get any notifications or messages and you haven't left the room for the past hour, so I figured you might be struggling a little bit.” When Lyra shot him a pointed look, he added, “Come on, Lyra. There’s no shame in admitting you’re having trouble and accepting a little help every now and then.”

As he said that last bit, the previously still bundle of what appeared to be blankets suddenly moved. 

“What is that?” she asked, her eyes widening as the bundle continued to wiggle in Scar’s grasp. Not only that, it was making a sort of noise, sounding almost like a high pitched  _ mew _ . Lyra had never heard anything like it. 

“This?” Scar set the bundle on the table and started pulling away the blankets, as he did so, a white and grey furry head poked out and glanced around the room, its green eyes blinking slowly as it took in its surroundings. Scar grinned and scratched its ears softly, saying, “This is Jellie!”

Lyra squinted at it. “What’s a Jellie?”

“Not so much a  _ what _ as a  _ who _ ,” Scar continued as he kept petting the Jellie. “This is my cat, Jellie. She’s my pet. I feed her, take care of her, clean up after her. Cub sometimes helps out with those things when I’m busy with a build, but she’s  _ my _ cat and I love her  _ very _ much. Anyways, whenever I’m facing a problem I don’t know how to solve or I’m stressed about the future, it always helps to keep Jellie around. I figured if she helps me so much, she might be able to help you.”

Jellie turned her head to take a good look at Lyra and cautiously stepped out of the bundle to investigate. Lyra knew that as someone who wasn’t part of the game, she probably couldn’t physically interact with the cat, but Jellie looked so soft and her eyes seemed so kind; Lyra couldn’t help but reach out and try. As her hand moved closer, Jellie backed away a little out of fear, but slowly, slowly brought herself to sniff the foreign hand to see if it was safe. Determining that Lyra was indeed not a threat, Jellie took a few careful steps forward, and Lyra attempted to pet her. But her hand simply phased right through, and both cat and girl seemed very disappointed with this outcome.

Seeing this, Scar’s face fell. “Ah, Lyra, I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean—“

Lyra smiled sadly, “No, it is fine. I knew what would happen, I just thought… Still, she is a very beautiful cat. I can tell you two mean a lot to each other.” Jellie looked up at Scar and blinked contentedly in agreement. It was a small gesture that proved her point even more. 

“So,” Scar began, picking Jellie up off the table and placing her gently on the floor, where she promptly curled up by his feet and fell asleep, “what are we looking at here? What seems to be the problem?” 

Lyra stood up and walked over to Bdubs’ lifeless form. At this point, she was pretty glad that while Minecraft had mushrooms and zombies, the players’ forms didn’t  _ actually _ decay with disuse. It would have made for a very disgusting sight and an even worse smell. “Honestly, I have no idea. I have searched and searched through as much of the world between worlds that I can manage at a time, but I cannot find him anywhere. It is just so big and I am just so small.” Lyra leaned against the table and stared at the man in front of her, the player she never truly got to know but whose life she supposedly ruined anyways. “I am beginning to wonder if I am incapable of doing this at all, or maybe he really is gone for good. The world between worlds is dangerous and crushing, if he was not strong enough it could have… I could have… “ She trembled a little as she said this. 

“Lyra, that negative self-loathing spiral is not one you want to go down, trust me,” Scar kindly reminded her. A moment of silence passed as Lyra tried to pull herself together. She took some deep breaths and focused on the brick wall in front of her, counting the individual bricks in an attempt to distract herself from the swirling thoughts in her head. “Hey, Lyra, have I ever told you the story of my chest monster?”

Lyra turned to face him, confused. “Chest monster? Is that a being from Area 77?”

Scar chuckled. “I guess so. I mean, it existed in Area 77, Concorp, pirate island, Cherry, basically anywhere I built anything, you can bet there was a chest monster.” Lyra was still confused. “Why don’t I backtrack a little bit. A chest monster is when you have a bunch of chests, shulkers, and barrels that are full of random blocks and are completely disorganized. When I’m building, I’m not very good at keeping my materials organized, since I often use what I need and toss aside the rest. Chest monsters tend to become a big problem over time.”

“Why does a chest monster apply to—“

“I’m getting there, I’m getting there, hang on.” Scar giggled before going on, “When I need a specific material, say glass, and I realize I don’t have it on me, I have to go through the chest monster to get it. I don’t know the layout of the chest monster, nobody does, it’s a monster! But I do know that if I rifle through my chests and shulkers like a crazy person, I’m never going to find the glass because in my excitement, I could miss the thing I need the most. But if I take it easy and go through my chests in order, looking in each of the containers and carefully searching for my glass, I’m more likely to find what I need and get a general idea of what I have for the future when I need something else.”

“I think I see where this is going,” Lyra whispered, sensing the somewhat hidden moral of the story.

“Good,” Scar grinned, “that means I’m doing it right. You see, Lyra, Bdubs is out there. I know he is. If Ex can last about a year in that place, our man Bdubs can go couple weeks  _ easily _ . He’s a really strong guy. That being said, it’s up to you to get him out of the world between worlds and bring him home, which is a scary task, I know, but I also know that you have the power to do it. All you gotta do is not go rifling through the place like a crazy man looking for glass, but instead take it slow and simple. Look for clues, follow your gut, and remember that we have your back, no matter how long it takes. Alright?”

“Alright.” 

Scar had a point, she  _ had _ been rushing in her search for Bdubs. It just made her feel so icky, knowing that she had the tool to fixing her last great mistake but not knowing entirely how to wield it. It didn’t help that the world between worlds was dark and cold and generally unpleasant, and Lyra wanted nothing more than to  _ not be there _ . Especially since she knew that Ex was in there as well, and she had no clue what would happen if she ran into him. Even if he couldn’t see her, she would’ve seen him, and the knowledge of their brief encounter would have haunted her for ages. 

“I think,” Lyra forced out, trying her best to ignore that last thought, “I am ready to try again.”

Scar clapped. “That’s good to hear! I’m assuming you want me out then.” Lyra nodded, more than a little embarrassed. It wasn’t that Scar was bad to have around, it was just the knowing that someone else was in the room that threw off her rhythm. “I understand, no worries. Do you want me to take Jellie with me?”

“No, Jellie can stay. If she wants.”

Jellie lifted her head groggily, hearing her name. She looked at Scar, looked at Lyra, yawned once, and  _ mewed _ in Scar’s direction. 

“I think she wants to stay,” Scar translated. 

How he got all that from what seemed like normal cat behavior was a mystery Lyra would never solve. 

Scar left the room, flashing her one last reassuring grin and closing the door softly behind him. As he left, Jellie hopped up onto the table and curled up next to Bdubs, her eyes trained on Lyra as if wordlessly asking  _ So? Are you going to keep trying or what? _

“Okay, Jellie, let’s do this,” Lyra whispered, laying her hands once again over Bdubs’ chest and closing her eyes.

Everything was dark, of course it was. Her eyes were closed after all. But as she felt her mind fade into the world between worlds, it got darker and darker until the darkness pressed against her chokingly. Lyra hated the world between worlds; it was full of everything and nothing and made her head spin when she searched through it, but if she was to save Bdubs she needed to force her way through the crushing darkness and hollow feeling that came with being there. So she took a deep breath, reminded herself of what Scar had said about the chest monster, and began searching through the void. 

Nothing, nothing, nothing. There was so much nothing it was almost maddening. Though she had never seen it in person, Lyra figured this was what being in Grian’s infinity room felt like. Occasionally, she would hear a faint voice or catch a glimpse of a discarded world floating through the void, but it never lasted longer than a fraction of a second. 

_ Come on, he has to be in here, _ Lyra thought to herself as she searched.  _ He has to be in here. I do not know where else he could be.  _

_ But if he can be in here, Ex can be in here too. And he is more accustomed to this place. What if I find him, and he sees me? What would he say? What would I say? What would I do?  _

Back in the real world, Jellie mewed impatiently. 

_ Right, Jellie, no point in worrying myself over what ifs.  _ Lyra gritted her teeth and dove back into her searching. 

Black, dark, empty, 

noise, silence, light, 

crushing, dizzying, disorientation,

and a red speck. 

A red speck, that was new. It was flickering in and out of view like an airplane you initially mistake for a star. Unstable, struggling against the odds and fighting to stay alive in a world that exists to consume. Not that far away either, and now that Lyra had something fixed to follow, it was only a matter of time before she figured out what it was. As she approached the speck, Lyra was filled with so much hope. Was this it? Was this the end to all the worry and pain and conflict she had both caused and endured? 

The closer she got to the red speck, the faster she realized that this was no speck but a light, illuminating the darkness around it and floating shapelessly in mid air. Not only that, but she could also hear a sort of music (jazz?) drifting through the air and a loud, somewhat familiar voice emanating from it. 

_ “Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to another episode of Hermitcraft…”  _

Lyra grinned. This was it. 

“Come on, Bdubs, it is time to go home.”

Her hands erupted into red light, and she placed them on either side of Bdoubleo’s light, willing him into existence and back into his body. It wasn’t easy, in fact, she could feel her energy draining at a faster rate than she had ever outputted before. Her head felt light, her stomach felt sick, but she kept pushing harder than she ever had before to bring. him.  _ home _ .

One more burst of red light, and Lyra collapsed against the chair, back in the real world once again. She felt absolutely horrible. Her energy was all but depleted, and everything around her kept spinning and glitching to the point where she wondered if she had done something terrible to the server in her carelessness. Then, she looked down at her arms only to see that her own form was bursting at the seams, red light shining through cracks in her skin that ran up and down her arms and even legs. That wasn’t good. 

That’s when she looked up and into Bdoubleo’s confused brown eyes. 

He was sitting up, looking surprisingly put together for someone who had just been brought back from the dead and surprisingly calm for someone who had been both betrayed and deleted in one day. Bdubs opened his mouth as if to say something and then looked down as he heard purring from below him. Jellie nuzzled her face into his side, stood up, jumped off the table, and strode proudly over to the door, mewing (half-annoyed) to be let out of the room and brought back to her owner. Lyra could have laughed at how ridiculous the scenario was, but she knew better than to do something as stupid as that. 

“Lyra,” Bdubs croaked, his voice raspy from disuse, “what have you done?”

In her head, Lyra heard a loud  _ click _ and everything went dark.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The title of this chapter is actually sort of clever because it references three things:  
> 1) stuff that actually happens in this chapter  
> 2) me waiting for my two braincells finally work together to create an idea for this fic  
> 3) y’all waiting for updates that are much less regular than they used to be (im so sorry)


	35. Awakened

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> With this funky chapter we are well past 100k words lads!!! Fun fact: the original outline for this story had only 20 chapters and it was a LOT less detailed, went into the girls’ past a lot less, and had close to no Ex angst. But I like what I’ve done to this story and I’m proud of all the work and creativity I’ve put in thus far. Even if my upload schedule is now less of a schedule and more of a pleasant thought in my mind with every passing Wednesday. (I’m so sorry, folks)

Aster had been sitting on top of one of the many small cottages in New New Hermitville when she heard the news. She liked being outside and especially being up so high, so she could see the gorgeous village built by Keralis and Bdubs sprawled out in front of her and observe the various mobs wandering between the narrow alleyways and through the wide open fields near the quaint barn. If anything, the view and solitude allowed her to think a little more clearly about things, and she certainly had a lot to think about following her conversation with Xisuma. 

_ The only way to get the answers you want is to let her try and figure it out for herself,  _ he had told her.

And as much as Aster wanted to claim that, as Lyra’s sister, she was in complete control of the situation and didn’t need his input, she knew better than that. If history had taught her anything at all, it was that Lyra was a mystery Aster had no clue how to solve. The last time she tried to teach Lyra about the world, she ended up turning her sister into a dangerous weapon, and a lot of real people suffered because of them. Granted, Aster was a completely different person back then, but even now she still felt like their relationship was spiraling wildly out of her control. But maybe that was the point. Maybe the admin had a point in calling her out for smothering Lyra, and maybe Aster needed to reevaluate some things.

That was, until Keralis came running out of his base with Xisuma close behind him. 

“Aster!” he shouted upon seeing her. “Aster, something’s happened!”

“Really?” Aster laughed. Finally, things were looking up! She jumped off the edge of the building and landed softly on the dirt path in front of them. She bounded towards her friends cheerfully, forgetting all about her previous conversation with Xisuma and the deep internal debate she was having with herself only moments ago. “That is wonderful news! I assume Lyra has been successful, and she has…” Her voice trailed off as she took notice of their worried faces and how neither of them would meet her eyes. “Something is wrong. What is wrong?”

Keralis nervously shuffled. “Good news is she did do it. Lyra brought back Bdubs and he’s awake and okay. So that’s very good.”

“Bad news is that something’s wrong with Lyra,” Xisuma added. “Scar chatted us just a few seconds ago. He said she passed out just after healing Bdubs and that there’s these red cracks along her skin. Sound familiar?”

Aster recalled the last few times she tried to over extend her energy output and the blue scars that were left behind. “Where is she?”

“Concorp,” Keralis replied. “Where we left them.”

“Take me to her.  _ Now _ .”

When they arrived, Cub was already standing in the courtyard, ready to lead them to Lyra. Tunnel vision prevented her from taking notice of her surroundings or any of the specific words exchanged during their walk, but Aster did remember following closely at Cub’s heels as he reexplained what she already knew, pushing Scar out of the way to get to her unconscious sister’s broken form, and hearing Keralis mumble a quick apology before rushing away to go see Bdubs. Eventually, the other three followed suit, leaving Aster alone with the fading remnants of Lyra.

Aster did her best to heal her sister but, honestly, at that point most of it was up to fate. After all, if what Cub said was correct and Lyra was actually throwing herself into the world between worlds that recklessly — rather than simply reaching in and pulling Bdubs out — there was a chance it could still have a hold on her mind, restraining her from going back and dragging her deeper and deeper until even her temporary form disappeared forever. But that was worst case scenario and there were plenty of better case scenarios that could keep Aster company while she waited for something to change. 

She wouldn’t have to wait long, for Lyra soon awoke with a start, sitting up straight in her bed with a cry and glancing anxiously around her surroundings. Aster leapt to her feet and was by her sister’s side in a second as Lyra attempted to crawl out of bed, still mildly disoriented from being in another dimension. 

“Lyra, lay down, stop moving,” Aster instructed calmly, grabbing hold of her sister’s arms and attempting to lower her back onto the bed. She tried her best to swallow the mix of excitement and worry that came with seeing Lyra was alive for her sake.

“You don’t understand,” Lyra choked out, her throat raw, “I have to get to him, I have to explain to him what I did, why I did it, I have to tell him I was wrong. I did not mean to hurt him.”

Initially, Aster was quite confused. Who was she talking about? Who was the  _ him _ ? Then, it dawned on her. “Bdubs?”

“Who else? Now, where is he? Let me get to him, please.”

“Lyra, you are low on energy, you need to rest.”

“But—“

“No buts.” Aster sighed. “Besides, the others already debriefed him. He knows that you are not dangerous or mean now. It is okay.”

Lyra surrendered her struggling and began to relax, slowly lowering herself onto the bed as Aster tucked in the blanket around her. She looked up at the ceiling with sad eyes. “But he needs to hear it from me. Out of everyone back then, Bdubs was the one person who trusted me. He genuinely wanted to help me, though all his knowledge of me was based upon lies. And I betrayed his trust, sent him away, and ruined his relationship with his friends. I did him so much harm, I need to fix it.”

“No offense, Lyra, but the man just got back. If this is true, you might be the last person he wants to see right now,” Aster told her. “Besides, you need to rest.” She walked over to the side of the room and began looking for some more blankets. Aster may not have been able to access chests, but there had to be one just lying around somewhere. She rifled through piles of random garbage and countertops covered in leftover food, but no blankets. Why couldn’t she just open the chests and barrels in the room and hold objects in general? She was just another computer program, after all, no reason why this world had to be so inaccessible just because she wasn’t a player. 

“You are mad at me. Why?”

Aster looked up at Lyra, who was sitting up again. This time with her arms crossed. “Mad? Why would I be mad? I am not mad.”

“Yes, you are, stop lying to me,” Lyra demanded. “Tell me what I did wrong, I want to know.”

Lyra could read people very well. It was an odd talent for her to have, given her history of murder and solitude, but somehow her people skills were still incredible. Nothing got by her. The slightest shift in tone, the smallest twitch in facial expressions. Sometimes you could just feel her reading you, looking for the littlest slip up in your facade that she could use to figure you out. Or maybe Aster was just that easy to figure out. Either way, Aster was still a little frustrated, that much was true, and there was little use trying to avoid this conversation anymore. 

“Why did you not want me to help?” she asked. 

Lyra rolled her eyes. “Aster, I went over this already. Having people in the room was a distraction, and I was doing something that required my full attention.“

“I do not believe you,” Aster shot back. “I believe that you needed to focus, I just cannot understand why you were so insistent that I leave. Scar and Cub could stay.”

“Scar and Cub work here.”

“Scar and Cub are your friends!” Aster shouted. Lyra’s eyes widened. Realizing that she probably shouldn’t have raised her voice like that, she immediately drew back and continued, “They are your friends, and I am not.”

Lyra scoffed. “Aster, that is petty, especially coming from you. If you remember, you were the one that encouraged me to make friends, you helped me make amends with Scar, you wanted me to be a better person and I did that by interacting with people I care about. I care about these guys just as much as I care about you! Not more, not less.”

“Lyra—“

“And another thing,” she cut Aster off, “if I had you here with me, all you would have done was waste time warning me of the dangers and slowing me down. You are so hesitant to use magic, so worried about the consequences that you do not even try. And you force me to stop trying because you decide it is not worth it.”

“Your life could have been at stake, and clearly it was!” Aster gestured towards the bed and Lyra resting upon it. “Knowing when to stop is a strength, not a weakness. Throwing yourself recklessly at every problem is the real weakness.”

“You mean taking risks? Because sometimes you gotta take risks in order to do the right thing. And so what if I put myself in danger?” Lyra shouted, throwing her hands around wildly to emphasize her point. “I killed this guy! Actually, no, I did something much much worse. I deleted him. I ripped him from this world and threw him into a cold, unforgiving place where everything is dark and empty and horrible and I left him to dissolve. The others came back but he could have never come back if it wasn’t for me going to get him.” Her voice hitched, like she was about to burst into tears but was holding them back with all her might. “You just don’t understand what it is like to hurt someone in such a terrible and permanent way and be left with the guilt of what you have done!” 

“Yes! Yes I do!” Aster yelled back. “Why did you think I chose to erase your memory instead of banning you? It was risky, it was dangerous, I had no idea if it was going to work. It was not even the plan we discussed. Xisuma wanted you gone, but I could not bring myself to do it because you became that evil version of you all because of me! I hurt you! I ruined your chance at normalcy a long time ago because I was selfish and angry, and I had to live all alone with that mistake for months before I found you. At least you get the deniability in having your memory gone, being able to separate that past version of you from the way you are now.  _ I _ did what I did, I know what I did, and there is nothing I can do or say that can change it. You may not remember, but I do! And I fought to protect you because I love you!” 

Aster’s words hit Lyra like a slap to the face, her expression turning into one of blank surprise. Unlike Lyra, Aster had no idea what her sister was thinking, thoughts and feelings, though she had them, were a mystery to her. Aster herself just felt so... empty. Like she had bottled those words up for a while now, scared to say anything to break the illusion that everything was just fine between her and her sister. But erasing Lyra’s memories wasn’t a grand solution to all of their problems, it was more comparable to placing a bandaid on a bullet hole. Covered up the damage but did nothing to repair it. But now that she finally said something, Aster just felt so hollowed out, like there was nothing left for her to say or think or feel on the matter. She couldn't truly say whether that was a better feeling or not.

“If that is truly how you feel,” Lyra softly said, “then why did you not want me to do the same for him?” 

She was right. Of course she was right. Aster backed herself into a corner a little on that one. “Because... I am still trying to protect you.”

“I do not need protecting anymore. I know what I am doing.” 

“I know that. It is just... hard to let go,” Aster admitted. She walked over to the bed and plopped down in front of her sister. 

Lyra placed her hand on top of Aster’s. “I am not sure if I need you to let go. That implies I do not need you anymore, and I know I definitely want to keep sticking by my sister. She usually knows what is best. Usually.” She winked. 

Aster grinned. “Well, what would you propose I do?”

“How about let... it be? Let it be. I will do what I gotta do, you will do what you gotta do. We help each other out when we need it. But it is what it is.“ 

“Let it be, I like that,” Aster thought aloud. “Alright, from now on, I, Aster, shall let it be!”

“Thanks Aster,” Lyra chuckled. 

Aster patted the bed and stood up. “Now, as my first decision with my new life motto, I shall let  _ you _ be so you can rest up. Your temporary form is a little scarred at the moment from your little creation adventure, but if you just take some time to power down, your energy should handle the rest of it.”

“Eh, I might actually keep those,” Lyra remarked, looking down at the faded red scars on her skin from where her form cracked open and the light shone through. They stretched from the tips of her fingers to her biceps, and another cluster rested around her eyes and on her cheeks, spider-webbing out in bizarre patterns. “They look kinda badass.”

Aster gasped. “Language!”

“Let it be.”

“Touché.”

Aster started out the door, grinning at Lyra’s silliness. Eventually, that joke would run its course and Aster would get annoyed at her promise being used against her, but for now, she was just glad that the two of them were on good terms again. After all, she hadn’t truly spoken to Lyra in far too long, and Aster missed their softer conversations. 

“One last thing.” Lyra leaned forward, resting her elbows upon her knees and her face upon her hands. “I love you too, Aster. Always have, even when it did not seem like it.”

Aster smiled warmly. “Good to know.”

***

From the moment Bdubs woke up, everything just kept getting weirder and weirder. 

First off, last time he checked, Lyra was not a very good person. In fact, she was the one who played him for a fool this whole time: telling him that she was trying to defeat a great evil on the server, convincing him to kill Scar in order to open that portal, and then, as a final act of awfulness, placing her hands on his head and infecting him with the same virus she used to kill Grian. After that, things got pretty fuzzy, but Bdubs was pretty sure Lyra was the bad guy who had used him, then tossed him aside like garbage once he figured out her evil plans. 

So imagine his surprise when he woke up hours (days? weeks? he really couldn’t say) later to see Lyra standing near him, partially collapsed against a chair, her skin cracking apart like plaster with a bright red light shining through the fissures. All things considered, she appeared injured. Good, Bdubs had thought. After what she did to Grian and Scar, she deserved to feel pain, she deserved to hurt like they had hurt when she showed up out of nowhere and ruined everything for us. 

But then she looked up at him, and the way she looked at him with such relief in her eyes, one might say that she was  _ happy _ he was awake. Or maybe, judging by the fact that nobody else was in the room, she was the one to wake him up. Which made even less sense, since Lyra specifically went out of her way to get rid of Bdubs for good so he wouldn’t interfere with her schemes. Generally, Bdubs was having a lot of mixed feelings about this whole scenario. There was so much he wanted to ask her, so much he wanted to know, but in the moment all he could get out was: 

“Lyra, what have you done?”

Before she had a chance to respond, Lyra’s eyes rolled back in her head, and she fell to the ground, toppling the chair over as she went and hitting the floor with a loud CRASH that echoed throughout the room. Next came the sound of hurried footsteps pounding against the polished stone floor, and the door swung open to reveal none other than Cub… and Scar.

“Lyra, we heard a crash. Is everything—“ Scar started, falling silent as soon as he saw Bdubs sitting up on the table. Both members of the Convex had their eyes glued to the revived builder, expressions of disbelief on their faces. 

Cub hesitated a little before asking, “Bdubs? That you?”

“Wha-buh-kuh, whaddaya mean ‘that you’? Yes, of course it’s me! Who else would I be?” Bdubs stuttered out, crossing his arms in a huff. “Now, can someone tell me what the hell is going on?” 

Cub turned to Scar. “Yep. That’s him.”

Scar’s eyes darted downwards, and he caught sight of Lyra, unconscious on the floor. “Oh my gosh, Lyra!” He knelt down beside her and softly shook her shoulder in a feeble attempt to wake her up. Lyra was so completely motionless, Bdubs couldn’t even tell if she was breathing though, granted, he didn’t know if a computer person breathed in the first place. Never occurred to him to check for that before. Scar lifted her arm, eyes scanning the deep red cracks in her skin, and glanced up at Cub. “Something went wrong. I thought you said she knew what she was doing, that this was safe!”

“I said she  _ seemed _ to know what she was doing. And she told you herself, there were risks involved, but she was willing to take them!” Cub replied, raising his hands in surrender. He gestured to her body. “And before you freak out, the fact that her form is still here shows that she’s still alive. It takes up a small amount of her energy to keep that thing visible; we figured that one out during our sparring session.”

“Sparring session? What sparring session?” Scar interrogated him, raising an eyebrow at this development. It must have been something bad, judging by Scar’s reaction, but Bdubs stopped understanding this conversation a while ago. “I thought you said you two— You know what, that’s a problem for another time.” Scar scooped his arms under Lyra’s shoulders and knees and lifted her up with some mild difficulty. “I’m gonna get her to a bed, then I’m chatting X and Keralis. They should be near Aster, and Aster should know what to do.” 

“Only contact them for the time being,” Cub added. “I’m sure everyone will want to see Bdubs but we have to make sure everything is good first.” Scar nodded and headed out of the room, carrying Lyra’s lifeless form with him. Jellie — who Bdubs didn’t even know was in the room in the first place — darted out after them, mrowing questioningly as she went. As he left, Cub sighed and turned to Bdubs, whose face wore a resting expression of shock. “Uh, sorry about all that, didn’t mean for your first seconds awake to be that chaotic.” He laughed dryly. “Um, so, yeah. I’m sure you have some questions.”

“Uh, yeah, a few,” Bdubs snapped. He pointed to the doorway. “First thing’s first, why the hell was that  _ thing _ in my room, and why are you two protecting her? Don’t you know what she did to me? What she did to Scar? And how is he even awake? How am  _ I _ even awake?” 

Cub drew a breath in through his teeth. “Yeah, well, a lot of stuff has happened since you’ve been gone. It’s a long story.”

“I think I have the time.”

“Basically, Lyra used your body and the portal you made to bring back EvilXisuma from the world between worlds, together they set to destroy the sever but not in a fun, prankey way, more like a murder spree kind of way,” Cub summarized. “Then, Xisuma and Aster were able to defeat Lyra and erase her memories, so she’s pretty much harmless now, just soft and very confused. Lyra even helped us bring back all the people who died in the fights — you and Scar included — and get rid of Ex. She’s one of the good guys now.”

“Wait, wait, wait. So you’re telling me that Lyra did all of that horrible stuff, Aster conveniently made her lose her memories, and now everything’s okay? There’s no punishment or anything?” Bdubs asked in disbelief. 

Cub shrugged. “She has no memory of what she did, Bdubs, what were we supposed to do? Hold her accountable to a crime she doesn’t remember committing based on opinions she no longer has?” When Bdubs’ stony expression didn’t let up, Cub sighed. “Listen, I know it’s gonna be hard to forgive her. She hurt you, and that’s the kind of hurt that sticks with a person. Believe me, I know. I went looking for Scar when he disappeared and I was pissed. I went into that jungle intending to kill whoever or whatever had murdered my best friend.” 

As he said this, Bdubs suddenly remembered that he was the one to murder Scar. He remembered Scar’s tear soaked face, begging for mercy. Lyra’s hand on his shoulder, pushing him onwards. The blade in his hand, thrust into Scar’s chest with a sickening squish. And then the light fading from his friend’s eyes as he perished for (what Bdubs was soon to realize) nothing.

“Cub, I’m so—“

He held out a hand to stop him. “Save it. I know what you did. And it’s fine now.” Cub took a deep breath and continued, “Anyways, when I learned what she’d done, I was heartbroken and angry and scared. And then she had me killed, which was... pretty rough. When I woke up a few days later to hear that Lyra was different now, and that she used her energy to bring me back at Scar’s request, I didn’t know what to think. I wanted to hate her, I wanted her to suffer the way Scar and I had suffered. But then I talked to her and I saw the way she interacted with the Hermits, and I realized that there was no point in hating her. It didn’t do me any good, it didn’t do Scar any good, it didn’t change what happened to everybody. And the new Lyra really does want to be better, and I respect that. If she lives here thinking all she can be is evil, then we’re denying her the opportunity to be good. Personally, I think that would make  _ us _ the bad guys.”

On the one hand, Cub had a point. Lyra brought him back to life and that was something to be grateful about. But then again, Lyra was also the one who put him in that situation in the first place, so it was hardly a merciful rescue. Even if Lyra was a different person now and meant them no harm, Bdubs wasn’t sure whether he could forgive her or not. It just seemed like a big request after what he’d just been through.

“You don’t have to forgive her right away,” Cub said, as if reading his mind. “I know it’s a hard thing to do after, well, everything. All I’m asking is for you to be civil around her, she’s just trying her best. That’s all.” 

Then, Cub had asked Bdubs to stay where he was, explaining that he should probably head to the front gates of Concorp to make sure Xisuma, Keralis, and Aster knew where they were going, that Concorp was a maze of buildings and it was easy to get lost. If Bdubs just stayed where he was, he or Scar would come looking for him to check in and make sure everything was alright, that there were no lingering effects from the world between worlds (they kept saying that like he knew what it meant, but by now he was too afraid to ask). For now, Bdubs should just rest up, try to sleep if he could, and stay out of the way. 

Cub didn’t say that last bit, but it was implied. He was acting like Bdubs didn’t know what he was doing and like he was a threat to Lyra or something. Which was complete and utter nonsense, mainly because even if Bdubs wanted to hurt Lyra, he had no idea how to hurt a thing like her. But he was pretty tired and he didn’t actually know how to get around the building, so he reluctantly heeded Cub’s words and laid back against the table.

“Geez, least he could’ve done was give me a proper bed,” Bdubs grumbled to himself as he turned onto his side and stared at the wall, trying to schreep. But his brain had other ideas, choosing to recap the craziness that he was just made aware of rather than giving him some much needed rest.

A few weeks. A few weeks he’d been out and so much had changed. Lyra was good. Scar and Cub had died but been revived just like he had. Hopefully, that meant Grian was alive as well, but he didn’t get the chance to ask. And if Aster was a common name, that meant she and Keralis started working with everyone, and they all knew that he had chosen the wrong side. 

_ Oh my god, Keralis. _

Everything after Lyra infected him and took over his mind was very fuzzy, but Bdubs vaguely remembered something happening with Keralis. An interaction. Bdubs wasn’t in control but he felt that was watching it from afar, seeing his body moving and hearing himself talk but knowing it wasn’t him. Did they talk? Did they fight? Did something happen? Something stirred in him, deep down. 

_ You don’t have to do this, Bubbles. You can still come back! We all still care about you so, so much. None of us are mad. None of us hate you. Whatever you have done, we can fix it. But you have to stop this now and come home, okay, Bubbles? Stop this and just come home. What do you say, Bubbles? Will you come with me and Aster and save everyone? For realsies this time? _

_ I… can’t. _

Did he… did he try to kill his best friend?

“Bubbles?”

Speak of the devil. Quick as lightning, Bdubs sat up at the sound of that familiar voice.  _ Oh god, I meant to hurt him and he knows it _ , he thought to himself.  _ He knows what I did to the server, how I let Lyra in so she could do all that damage to so many people. What do I say? What am I supposed to say? _

He took a deep breath and turned to face his friend. Keralis stood there, leaning against the doorframe, his shirt half tucked into his pants, his hair unkempt (kept in place only by his large grey cap), his eyes wide behind those round glasses, his mouth agape. This was the same old Keralis that Bdubs went to IDEA meetings with, that paid for his Sahara goodie box at their start to the season when he couldn’t afford it, that he had to frequently drag away from Run when his gambling addiction started being problematic again. The same Keralis he’d always known, yet something was different now. Bdubs couldn’t quite put his finger on it, but he could tell that something within his friend had changed since the last time they met. 

His voice shaking, Bdubs forced out, “Uh, hey, Keralis.” 

A moment of silence passed between them, and Bdubs worried that maybe something had broken between them from when Lyra was in control. Something he couldn’t remember and therefore couldn’t address correctly. He searched his memories for anything he was missing, any interaction, however brief, that could have messed them up. 

But Keralis’s blank expression suddenly cracked into a grin of pure glee, and he dashed over to Bdubs and tackled him into a hug, accidentally slamming him against the table and nearly crushing him under his weight. He giggled softly as he wrapped Bdubs in a hug so tight the latter Hermit could hardly breathe. But he didn’t care because Keralis was here, he was safe, and they were still friends. So Bdubs fumbled around awkwardly until his limbs were free enough to wrap his arms around Keralis, hugging him back just as tightly and sinking so deeply into the embrace that he could smell the combination of floral detergent and dog fur on Keralis’s shirt. 

“Ah, Bubbles, sweet face, I missed you so so much,” Keralis exhaled softly. 

“I missed you too, buddy,” Bdubs breathlessly whispered back. He carefully pushed Keralis away from him and out of the hug, partially to give himself some room to breathe but also to say, “Listen, I have something I need to tell you, something I need to get off my chest.” He took a deep breath, then continued, rambling, “I am so, so sorry for what I did to you. I lied to you, I helped the bad guy try to destroy the server, and honestly everything’s a little fuzzy but I think I tried to kill you once and that wasn’t cool. Just, I need you to know that I’m sorry, and I should’ve just talked to you instead of hiding and I should’ve been honest with you and—“

Keralis put a finger to his lips to quiet him. “Shh, angel face, do not worry, all is forgiven. That? That doesn’t matter to me. I’m just happy you’re safe now.” He smiled kindly. “But since your memories are a little fuzzy, there is one thing we need to get straight, so look into my eyes, nothing but my eyes. You didn’t try to kill me. Evil Lyra tried to kill me, but you stopped her from doing so! You didn’t hurt me, Bubbles. you  _ saved _ me.”

“I did?”

“Yes!” Keralis chuckled. “And for that, I am forever in your debt.”

Bdubs raised an eyebrow. “Are you sure about that because I really messed up, and it sounds like you and Aster were the ones who saved my behind rather than the other way around.”

Keralis shrugged. “Then I suppose we are even. No life debts for either of us. Good, I didn’t want to have to be, like, your maid or anything. That would really suck.”

“Well, I dunno if it would suck that much.”

“Are you for real right now?” Keralis wrinkled his nose. “You are so messy. You just leave things everywhere while you’re working. So many dirty, disorganized barrels. Cleaning would be a nightmare. Not to mention having to wash your stinky socks. Ew, no thank you! I love your face but, eh, not that much.”

For the next few hours, Keralis and Bdubs filled their time catching up on all the playful banter they missed out on when they were busy choosing sides in a war they never meant to fight. There was no point trying to talk about what had been done since, as Keralis had wisely put it, all was forgiven. And as they chatted and laughed together, Bdubs felt all of his remaining anxieties about Lyra, Xisuma, and all the other Hermits melt away. After all, with Keralis by his side, he knew he could handle it. 

They had each other now, so everything was going to be okay.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Reread the first chapter today just to see where I started. OOF. That’s all I have to say on the matter. 
> 
> Honestly, though, this story has been a hell of a ride and!!! Barring any monumental plot additions last minute, we are one chapter away from the ENDING. Thats right, I’m gonna end this big boi and move on with my life. Maybe move onto, idk, season seven shenanigans. What would you guys like to see me write?


	36. The End of the Beginning

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The final chapter.  
> The final conversation of two friends.  
> The final portal.  
> The final meeting between brothers.  
> This is an end to a beginning.

Not everyone came to the portal that day, partially out of not wanting to see Keralis die like this, partially out of being busy, partially out of just wanting to be done with the matter of Ex and the two sisters altogether. Letting the past die and all that. So when Scar entered the room (a little late, admittedly) he wasn’t surprised to see a smaller party than usual gathered before him. Xisuma and Aster were standing by the shell of the portal, discussing where everyone should stand for the magic to work properly, as if it made that much of a difference. Keralis stood by the altar, staring at it with a stony expression. He seemed determined but put off. Bdubs was off to the side of the room, leaning against the wall and staring blankly into space. Lyra was off to the complete opposite side, tugging at her long hair with disdain. She looked up at the sound of footsteps, and her face immediately lit up.

“Scar!” Lyra exclaimed, running up to him. “Glad you could make it.”

“Of course, wouldn’t miss the light show for the world,” Scar chuckled. “You left early. Missed a fantastic breakfast of cake, if I do say so myself.” He patted his full stomach and chuckled.

“Well, I had to help Aster and Xisuma finish setting up the portal and besides, I cannot eat, so…” Lyra began, her neutral expression cracking into a mischievous smile. Scar knew that Lyra liked to joke about her lack of a form as a sort of coping mechanism, so he awkwardly laughed back, not really sure how else to respond. There were so many ways that she wasn’t really a part of the game, not like the others, and it really seemed to bother her when these things came up, as much as she liked to pretend it didn’t. Looking back on it, he should’ve known where this conversation was going. Her cheerful expression suddenly turned sour. “Scar, there is something I need to tell you.”

He raised an eyebrow at the shift in tone. “Something tells me I’m not gonna like the sound of this.”

“Yeah probably not,” Lyra laughed dryly, wringing her hands. “So, Aster and Xisuma and I were talking, you know, while we were setting up for the day, about the future. What comes next, where Hermitcraft was heading, stuff like that. And we were thinking it might be a good idea if Aster and I did this portal thing and then we… leave.”

“Leave? You want to leave Hermitcraft?” Scar couldn’t believe his ears. “Why would you want to leave? I thought you liked it here.”

“I mean, I do like it here! I really do, this place is… amazing,” she reassured him. “Aster and I, we really like hanging out with you and Cub and Keralis and X and everybody. But let’s face it, we do not belong here. You guys do, with your contraptions and builds and storylines and love for one another. Aster and I, we belong out there.” She gestured vaguely towards the sky. “We were here because we needed to solve a problem. Now that the problem is solved, we should go. Leave you guys to your own home and your own lives. We think maybe that would fix things more.”

Scar didn’t know what to say. “So, so, you just decide to leave? Wait, did X put you up to this? I’m going to go have a word with him—“ He took a step forward to get to the admin, but Lyra grabbed his arm and pulled him back. For someone so small, she was surprisingly strong.

“No! I mean,” she took a deep breath, “I agreed with him, with them. I think I should go too.” 

“Lyra—“

“Please,” Lyra grabbed his hands and held them tight, “don’t make this harder than it has to be. I need to go explore the world out there, and you need to stay here with your real friends. Besides, from the way Xisuma talks, it sounds like you may be moving on to the next world.”

“Season seven,” Scar breathed. “It’s really that close?” 

Wow, so it was true. Everyone had been restless even before the sisters arrived, talking about moving onto the next world and starting over. Some of the Hermits had even stopped building and working on projects, preferring to just hang out and wait for what came next. Wels and Jevin specifically came to mind, but there were several others. Even he himself had considered hanging up his hat for the season and spending his time helping out Cub, wandering through his builds, and looking out forJellie. Of course, that would mean abandoning Cherry, but the rest and relaxation sounded mighty tempting. 

Despite all of that, Scar didn’t really know how he felt about the idea of a reset. Having a new world to explore sounded exciting. He could start new builds and experience new storylines and play new games. Maybe he could try something magic themed, like he could be a wizard of some sort. Yeah! With a long purple robe and a funky hat and maybe a beard. He could do that. But joining season seven meant leaving behind season six. Leaving behind Concorp and new Hermitville and Area 77 and the Civil War and all of the fun memories he made. And that was a saddening thought. This wasn’t his first time moving to a new world, but this one held a special place in his heart that made the idea of the jump that much more painful. 

“Hey, Lyra!” Xisuma called out from his spot by the portal, breaking Scar out of his trance and reminding him of the first thing he was going to feel sad about. “Portal’s up and running, Keralis is good, we’re ready when you are!”

“Coming!” Lyra shouted back. She turned to Scar one last time, and he shook his head in disbelief. “Scar, I promise I will come back. This will not be goodbye, just a sort of ‘see you later’, I suppose.” Lyra began tearing up. “Hermitcraft holds a special place in my heart. And you guys… well, you specifically have done so much for me, and I just want you to know I am so grateful for all the second chances and forgiveness and hope you gave me, and oh my gosh what is this feeling? I just feel so—“

Scar pulled Lyra into a hug, cutting her off because now he was tearing up too and he couldn’t bear to hear her say any more. Lyra, understanding, hugged back even tighter, clenching his jacket in her hands and burying her face in his shirt. She was right, she needed to be out there to experience all her life had to offer, to see the web for herself, to travel to new places and make new friends. Lyra was limitless, she had powers they could have never even dreamed of and a heart that was strong and good. It wasn’t fair of them, of him, to hold her back. 

“You are always welcome here,” Scar told her, trying to keep his voice as steady as possible. “No matter how far you go, no matter how long you’re gone, you can always come back as long as I have any say in it.” 

***

“So, um, welcome everyone to the portal opening ceremony thing,” Xisuma announced to his crowd of five very tired faces. A low turnout, but then again, this wasn’t exactly the sort of thing you’d show up to for fun. Everyone here had an important reason for being here; Scar was here to support Lyra, Lyra was here to channel the portal’s energy, Aster was here to make sure everything went smoothly, Bdubs was here to support Keralis, and Keralis was here to die. The last one was a bit grim, but it was what they’d agreed upon. In fact, on the way here, Xisuma had checked with his friend several times to make sure he was really up for doing this. 

_ “Listen man, I could probably find another way. There’s always another way, right?” _

_ “You heard the Aster, this is the fastest way to get to that world between worlds place. If you want to see EvilShishwamy, this is how we do it.” _

_ “I know, I just can’t bear to think of what’ll happen if something goes wrong.” _

_ “Nothing will go wrong then.” _

_ “You can’t just say nothing will go wrong and then nothing goes wrong. We’re playing with the closest thing to magic; it’s dangerous, it’s powerful, and nothing is for certain.” _

_ “Shishwamy, do you want to see your brother?” _

_ “I mean, yeah. Yeah I do.” _

_ “Then we are doing this. No complaining. No worrying about it. No buts. Hehehe butts. Besides, I am not afraid of dying. I die all the time. Like  _ _ all _ _ the time, Shishwamy. All the time. Just the other day, I…” _

And then he launched into another one of his zany stories about his Hermitcraft misadventures, effectively changing the subject and lightening up a situation that otherwise would have been rather dark. Keralis just had that amazing quality to make things better just by existing. And by being as zany as humanly possible.

“Hey, uh, X? I think you can skip the speech and just get on with it,” Bdubs grumbled, crossing his arms over his chest. “Pretty sure the more we drag it out the worse it’s gonna be.” As he spoke, Lyra looked more and more uncomfortable. Xisuma was pretty sure the two hadn’t talked since Bdubs was brought back and Lyra fell unconscious immediately after, no doubt thanks to Bdubs refusing to be in the same room as her and Lyra being awkwardly quiet every time his name was mentioned. Which was to be expected after everything Bdubs had been through. Everyone else knew Lyra was trouble from the beginning, so they had adapted fairly quickly to learning that she had changed, but Bdubs put his entire faith in her only to find out that he was on the wrong side all along. Trusting Lyra after the fighting had been one thing, trusting Lyra after being personally cheated by her was something completely different.

“Okay, I guess you’re right,” Xisuma ceded. He turned to Keralis. “You ready to do this, buddy?”

Keralis grinned mischievously and shot him two thumbs up. “I was born ready, Shishwamy.” 

Lyra helped Keralis lay on top of the altar while Xisuma prepared his diamond sword for the sacrifice. Aster ushered Bdubs and Scar off of the platform to give them some room to work, taking her spot right beside Scar, as Bdubs seemed wary of her presence as well. Once Keralis was in place, Lyra walked over to her spot on the platform such that he was directly in between her and Xisuma. The admin glanced at her with a questioning look, and she nodded in confirmation that everything was in place. It was time to begin. 

“Thanks for everything, Keralis,” Xisuma said, smiling weakly at his friend. “You mean the world to me, and I appreciate what you’re doing, as stupid as we both are for thinking that this could possibly be a good idea.”

“Yeah, yeah.” Keralis waved his hand dismissively, grinning the whole time he spoke. “Just get it over with and kill me already. You’re starting to get sappy.”

With that, Xisuma closed his eyes, drove his sword down, and impaled his friend in the chest. He didn’t see much of what happened after that, but through closed eyes he could see glowing red lights from the direction Lyra was standing, and he could hear awed gasps coming from the direction Scar and Aster were standing. Lyra must have lit the portal. He turned around and finally opened his eyes to see the towering dark prismarine structure in front of him glowing with an ominous red light. 

Without looking back, he stepped inside. 

The first thing Xisuma noticed about the world between worlds was how cold it was. Almost like when he was out in the End for a long time, and the harshness of the void sent chills up his spine despite his thick, protective suit that was accustomed to the weather there. It was dark, too, also like the void. Instinctively, Xisuma reached into his inventory for a torch, only to find that it was empty. No armor, no supplies, no  _ weapons _ . He whipped around in a panic, looking for his stuff, only to find more oppressive emptiness all around him. The only rational explanation was that the world between worlds deleted his stuff when he entered, since he most certainly had armor, supplies, and weapons on him earlier. Part of him started to feel upset that his stuff just disappeared like that, but the other part of him reminded him of his purpose, and he journeyed forth. 

The more he walked through the world between worlds -- careful to keep the portal he came through in sight -- the more he found himself in awe of this place. For years, when a mob despawned or a build got taken down or a world got deleted, Xisuma didn’t think much of it. It was always sad to watch something important go, but the things that left all the time you tend to get used to. And the deeper he went, the more things he’d gotten used to he found echoing in this place. The faint mooing of a cow that could have been killed for food or left somewhere that suddenly ended or faded away on its own, forgotten about by all. A glimpse of an unfamiliar world full of trees and rock formations and a beautiful waterfall, perfectly unique but untouched by players. Gone now. It was actually made him feel sort of hollow. Yeah, hollow. That was the best word for how he felt.

Maybe these deep, introspective thoughts about cows and forests were just him avoiding the messier bits that were so much harder to think about. The players, friends, he left behind as the years went on. The stories he created that even he had forgotten about. The things he said. The mistakes he made. The people that deserved better. Soon, would he be just a glimpse of a person in this world? An echo of a voice? Forgotten by everyone and sent to oblivion by the passing of time? And when he goes, how would he be remembered? As he searched for his brother, these questions bounced through his mind, making their presence known whether he liked it or not. 

This was starting to seem more and more like a bad idea. 

“Welcome to the world between worlds, brother,” a voice behind him seethed. Xisuma took a deep breath and turned around to face Ex. His helmet was off, his scars and glowing white hair standing out more than ever in this desolate place. In fact, he looked the same way Xisuma felt: hollow. “Lyra coined the term when we first started working together. One of the only things she left me with when the two of you decided to kick me out again. The woman who freed me giving me a name for my prison and then sending me back. It’s almost ironic.”

“You know I never wanted to do that, you forced my hand,” Xisuma calmly explained. “It was you or me, Ex, and I did what I had to do to protect my home, my people, and, well, myself. But, if you recall, I gave you a way out and you didn’t take it.”

Ex laughed. “A way out? You call that a way out? Well sorry I put up a fight rather than allowing myself to be lured into a false sense of security. At least I was able to get that cyborg and that wide eyed freak before you got to me. They deserved it.”

Xisuma was furious. How dare he. How dare he say that about them. “No, they didn’t deserve it! I may have, but Iskall and Keralis definitely-- wait.” He stopped his rant before it could begin, realizing just what he was being told. “Hang on, do you actually think I  _ wanted  _ to hurt you? You actually think that was supposed to be a trap?”

“Duh, wasn’t it? I’m already trapped, again, you don’t have to lie anymore.”

“I never lied,” Xisuma genuinely assured him. “I really did just want to talk.”

Ex tilted his head as if considering whether or not he wanted to believe what Xisuma was saying. He genuinely thought his brother was just being difficult about being caught, it never occurred to him that Ex was too paranoid of being hurt again to consider his offer. Made him wonder if maybe he should’ve tried a little harder that day in the clearing. Too late for that sort of thinking now. 

“Fine. You  _ may _ be telling the truth.” Xisuma grinned, which only made Ex scowl even more, as he continued, “Okay, stop that. I haven’t decided whether you are or not yet so don’t get too excited. But if you were there to talk, I guess you might be here to talk too. It’s not like you can hurt me in here, and I can’t hurt you, as much as I want to. And trust me, I  _ really _ want to. So if you’re here to talk, start talking. And don’t waste my time.” 

Xisuma bit back a retort about wasting Ex’s nonexistent void time and took a seat on the floor, patting the ground in front of him to get him to sit down as well. Ex rolled his eyes, but sat nonetheless, crossing his arms as he did so. 

“I guess I should start with an apology,” Xisuma carefully began, placing his hands on his knees. “After all, it’s a long owed one. So, I’m sorry. I have made so many mistakes in my career, but the biggest and worst one of all was banning you from the server. I never should’ve done that to you. And I know that doesn’t erase the months of pain and fear that you spent trapped here, stuck in the world between worlds. I’m sure it doesn’t come close to fixing anything for that matter, but it needs to be said and it needs to be heard.” Ex looked taken aback by his words, as if this apology shocked him more than anything. There was no anger, no hate, just pure astonishment. “Not only that but I need to apologize for not bringing you back. Banning you was one thing, leaving you here is another. I should never have left you here. I should have gotten you, but I didn’t know how to talk to you or guarantee that you wouldn’t hate me. So I didn’t. I just left you, and that is… that is unforgivable, I’m sure.”

Ex stared at the dark floor, unable to meet Xisuma’s eyes anymore. “I don’t even remember what I did, to be honest. I just remember that one day I was there and the next…”

Xisuma drew in a sharp breath. “I do, actually. You had… well, you took my communicator one day. I didn’t know it at first, thought I left the stupid thing at my base, so I went looking for it. Eventually, I was able to track it to where you were hiding out at the time. You had managed to hack into my communicator and you had accidentally stumbled across a way to end Hermitcraft. Delete the world with all of us in it.” He cracked a sad smile. “I remember how proud you were of yourself too. You’d prepared a whole monologue and everything, had that stupid grin on your face. I think you must’ve thought it was fake; I don’t think you actually knew what you were doing.” Ex laughed a little and shrugged. His memory of the event was probably coming back to him at this point, at least just a little bit. Xisuma’s smile faded away as he continued. “Well, I saw what you were doing and I was terrified. When we went from season to season, there was always another world to go to. But deleting Hermitcraft while we were still in it… Aside from losing base progress, I think it’s possible we could’ve lost our lives.”

“I didn’t know that,” Ex breathed. He wasn’t lying. “Seriously, I didn’t. You were right back there when… when we last fought; I didn’t want to hurt anybody for reals. It was fun being the bad guy, messing with your friends, making you squirm, but back then I didn’t want to hurt anyone  _ permanently _ . I wouldn’t have taken your communicator if I’d known that I could actually delete the world and all of you in it. Why didn’t you tell me?”

“Because I panicked!” X admitted. “I saw you, I saw the communicator, I saw the delete button and I panicked! When I finally wrestled the thing away from you I was scared and angry at you for putting us in this position, and I banned you because of it. Not my proudest moment, admittedly, but I did what I thought I had to do.” Ex tensed up, remembering. He talked a little about being banned before, and while Xisuma couldn’t remember ever being banned, he could at the very least piece together that it was painful and terrifying. “I think you know the rest.”

“Yeah, I do.”

… 

“So, are you gonna ask me why I did it?” Ex asked, breaking the silence between them. “Why when Lyra brought me back I went all mental and tried to kill everyone?”

“Do you want me to?”

“No, not really.”

“Okay, then I won’t.”

Ex raised an eyebrow. “Really? Just like that, the conversation’s over? No lecture, no moral argument, no ‘you shouldn’t have killed my friends’? You always used to love a good lecture, telling me I was evil and a threat to the world and that I needed to be better.”

Xisuma leaned back on his hands and let out a soft chuckle. “I mean, yeah, you shouldn’t have killed my friends, tortured Grian, kidnapped Mumbo and Zed, emotionally traumatized everyone on the server, but you already knew that. Me saying it over again isn’t going to make you come to some grand realization that you haven’t come to already. Besides, I’m not sure if after everything I’m in a place to give you a lecture. People in glass houses and all that.” He sighed and waved his hand lazily. “But the conversation doesn’t have to be over if you don’t want it to be.”

Ex nodded thoughtfully. Though they were brothers and used to spend way too much time with each other, Xisuma never really knew what he was thinking. Unless you caught him really off guard, Ex was very guarded. He kept his emotions close to his chest and would rather die than tell you what he was feeling. As he thought about this, Xisuma remembered his conversation with Aster a few days ago. How she was lamenting how difficult it was to get to know Lyra and protect her from the world. And vice versa. The sisters always did remind him of how he was with Ex when things started going wrong. Now, he could only hope that their stories could have the same happy ending.

“I’m assuming you’re not here to let me back in,” Ex stated. “You may be soft, but you’re not completely incompetent.”

“Yeah, no. I don’t think it would be wise for either of us to try and pull that. There’s a lot of scared Hermits, and it’ll take some time for them to be ready for you to come back.”

“I’m not sure I want to go back anyways so that works for me.” 

“You don’t want to go back?” Xisuma asked, surprised. “But if you don’t go back to Hermitcraft, where will you go?”

Ex shrugged again and stared into the void. “I dunno. According to Lyra, there’s a whole wide world out there. This wouldn’t be the first time I fought my way out of a place, I’m sure if I put my head to it I could get out of here, go someplace else. Someplace nice. Someplace I could destroy stuff and nobody gets hurt for reals.” When Xisuma still seemed shocked, Ex huffed and stood up. “C’mon  _ brother _ , I’m sure you’d just love for me to get out of your hair.”

“I mean, um-- no, I just, wow. You’re going too. A lot of leaving.” Xisuma did his best to recover from that mess by standing, clearing his throat, and saying, “Speaking of Lyra, she wanted me to tell you she’s sorry. She genuinely didn’t remember you, and when she did, she remembered you were friends. The poor girl’s been beating herself up about it ever since.”

Ex smirked. “Tell her not to worry about it. I get it. I’d sell me out too if I didn’t remember who I was.” He laughed dryly. “We did get pretty close, that much is true. Planning an evil scheme together takes a lot of rapid team building. It forces you to really get to know your evil partner. She’s a badass, man. I dunno what she’s like now, but she used to be so clever. Had everything planned out, a refined sort of crazy, sometimes loyal to a fault. I’m glad she’s getting a better life now.”

“I’ll be sure to let her know that you think that.” A flickering out of the corner of his eye told him that Lyra was having some troubles with the portal. He glanced at the rapidly dimming red light in the distance and then back at Ex.

“You have to go,” Ex remarked, putting two and two together.

“I’ll be back.”

Ex shook his head. “No you won’t. They’re leaving, aren’t they? That’s why you’re doing this now. Lyra needs to open the portal, and she’s leaving. Without her, you can’t come back.” Xisuma slowly nodded. “Gotcha. Well, it was nice seeing you. I appreciate the apology and the talk, it was… nice.” He awkwardly stuck out his hand, and Xisuma awkwardly took it and shook it. Then, on a whim, Xisuma pulled the handshake into a hug. Ex squirmed and grumbled at first, trying his best to get away, but eventually he relaxed and patted Xisuma’s back even more awkwardly, surrendering to the hug. The last thing X wanted to do was leave his brother here, especially with no way of contacting him, but he had to. Once again, he was left with no choice. At the very least, this time Ex seemed happier almost. Like being left alone was going to be a fresh start. Like he was going to be okay.

That in itself almost made the separation worth it. 

“Okay…” Ex finally groaned, pushing X off of him and wiping his hands on the front of his suit. “You need to leave and I need to find a loophole to get me the hell out of here. And Xisuma? Ever heard of a shower? You should take one, you smell  _ awful _ . Clean your cosplay while you’re at it. When’s the last time you changed clothing, Doom Guy?”

Xisuma rolled his eyes and touched his fingers to his temples. “Jesus Christ, I most certainly did not miss this. Ex, you do realize we’re wearing the same style clothing, right? You can’t insult my outfit without also insulting your own.”

“Yeah? Well, mine looks better on me!” he gloated.

“We’re wearing the same--! You know what? Nevermind.”

With that final thought, X walked back towards the portal. As he stood in the red glow, watching particles swirling in and out of his vision, feeling the familiar tug while his body was yanked from the world between worlds back to the overworld, he saw Ex standing a little ways away, watching him go. Before the magic was able to take him, he heard Ex yell:

“BY THE WAY, I ACCEPT YOUR APOLOGY!”

And then he was back on the quartz platform that he once desired to take down, but now he only wanted to use it again. Back in front of his friends, all asking questions he wasn’t sure he was ready to answer quite yet. Back in a world that he called home, but not for much longer. Back to a life without his brother, finally and unfortunately without EvilXisuma by his side to thwart his plans and make his life interesting. He felt happy and sad, relief and regret.

Anything but hollow.

***

Ex watched his brother fade away in the red glow of the portal and then the portal itself finally winking out of existence with a sigh. Then, he waited for a moment, processing everything that happened. Xisuma really just wanted to talk. And then they talked, and now things felt sort of okay? Of course, he was still banned and probably wasn’t going to see his brother for a while and that sucked, but instead of feeling upset about all of that, he felt more at peace than anything, which was a feeling he never really got to feel before. 

But the more he waited the more he realized that he was left in the world between worlds once again. He was really stuck here, and though he said that was fine by him, it was increasingly less and less fine the more he stood in the most lonely place he’d ever been in. And Ex was on his own a  _ lot _ , so that was really saying something.

“Well,” he said to himself, cracking his knuckles, “guess there’s no time like the present to find a way out of here, then.”

“If you are looking for a way out, I might be able to help,” a familiar voice said softly. Ex turned to see Lyra standing there in the void, just as vibrant against the darkness all around her as the first time they met, but something was different about her this time. She seemed more reserved, a bit restless, just as confident but with a lot less flair and ego. Definitely less evil. More normal. He wasn’t sure whether or not that was better.

“You said that last time, though I’m told you don’t remember last time,” Ex spat. He wasn’t that mad at her anymore, and X did say she was beating herself up about it enough already. All he wanted to do now was make her squirm, maybe see what she was made of with this new mind of hers.

Surprisingly enough -- though, not really, Lyra always was tougher than she looked -- she stood her ground, not even flinching at his words. “I remember some things. I remember you caring about your brother and about me. I remember caring about you. I still do, though I may not remember the specifics.”

“Why are you here?”

“To bust you out, of course, why else would I be here?” she chuckled. She waved for him to come closer, and he followed her lead, more out of curiosity than anything. Then, Lyra closed her eyes and held out her hand. A glowing beam of red light shot out of her hand like a laser and then struck the darkness with a loud  _ crash _ , as if glass had been shattered. Ex ducked and covered his ears, not entirely sure what was happening but spooked by this show of force nonetheless. Hearing Lyra laugh at him, he stood up and dusted himself off, grumbling about the noise, and that’s when he saw it.

A glowing red rift in the void. A gateway to something else. Not Hermitcraft, probably not even Minecraft, but something else. Ex couldn’t help but stare into its bright light.

“Aster and I talked, and we figured that you deserved a second chance,” Lyra explained, also staring into the rift. “It is no Hermitcraft, but it could be something better. Honestly, I don’t even know what it will be like, but I am ready for whatever lies ahead. Would you like to come with me?”

Words evaded him. He was evil, a force of destruction and chaos. This girl barely even knew him. She once did, but that was when she was evil too. And now she was offering him a shot at freedom like he had never known before. Lyra was either really stupid or really clever for trying to do something as reckless as this, and he wasn’t really sure which one it was. But something deep down told him that this was his last chance to potentially make something of himself, definitely his only chance of getting out of this hellhole. Ex smiled a sincere smile, quite possibly the first of its kind, and nodded.

Lyra smiled back and held out her hand. “Great. Let’s get going, shall we?”

“Sounds good to me.”

Together, they jumped through the rift, nervous for the future but excited for all the potential possibilities it could bring. Because for once in their lives, they had nothing to prove, nothing to fear. They could find where they belonged in the world out there without worrying what other people would think. And they had their family with them, maybe not physically, but they were there nonetheless. And they had each other. 

It may have been an end, but with so many beginnings, one could hardly feel loss.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And with that, our story of two brothers and two sisters and a world full of a hope stronger than any fear comes to a bittersweet close. 
> 
> Like I said a little bit last chapter, this story has been so much fun to write. It’s also been tedious to write. I struggled a lot trying to figure out plot, getting characters just right, telling the story I wanted to tell. I know I’ve probably made several errors and plot holes definitely exist in this mess. But all in all, this has been a wonderful experience I wouldn’t trade for the world. The biggest thank you to everyone who read my story all the way to the end, to those who have been here since the beginning, to those who are just now tuning in (hi I’m Cactus, nice to have ya!) To everyone who left kudos and commented, I give my sincerest thank you, y’all kept me going when the going got tough. And also thanks to my bff Clever who annoyed me into finishing this and “helped” with the fight scenes, ilysm broski!
> 
> If you have any questions, comments or concerns after the story, pop those down below and I’ll try to get back to ya as ASAP as possible! And if you have any suggestions (related to the world of Lyra and Aster or nah) don’t be shy and let me know!
> 
> Farewell, my friends, see ya in the next one!


End file.
